Crossed Paths
by BAR18
Summary: Cera is desperate for a mate, Ramirez is desperate to get out of Army life. A series of strange events take place that will cause these two individuals to cross paths in what would turn out to be the strangest adventure in their young lives.
1. Intro Hopeless Situation

**Crossed Paths**

**Chapter 1: Intro and Hopeless Situation**

**Welp, here's my fic, you may notice that I edited the beginning, that's because I thought up an interesting intro. Here's said intro and the beginning of this interesting story, BTW, imagine the narrator as John Ingle, who has voiced the narrator in the sequels or Pat Hingle who voiced the narrator in the original Land Before Time, whichever floats your boat, and imagine the music that played at the end of Crew Expandable in CoD4, for more dramatic purposes. And yes, this is a Fourth Wall breaking moment. :P  
**

* * *

Narrator: "_The planet Earth, much has gone on in its 6 billion year history..._

_In the year AD 2016, a great conflict begins between America and Russia, great turmoil, chaos, and tragedy as leading American Commander General Shepard betrays the men of Task Force 141 and executes members Roach and Ghost. Two men, Captains Price and MacTavish, chased the rogue General and killed him._"

A cutscene depicting MacTavish throwing a knife into Shepard's forehead is shown, before the narrator continued:

"_Meanwhile, Russia invaded America, forcing a rookie Ranger, James Ramirez, into combat with his squad in order to reclaim the capital of Washington D.C and Vladimir Makarov, the same individual responsible for the war's beginning, is still on the loose somewhere in central Asia._"

A close-up photo of Makarov is shown as well as a group photo of Ramirez's squad. Again, the narrator continued:

"_Meanwhile, millions of years before that war and all that transpires, in the Age of the Dinosaurs, life goes on for the great Reptiles who inhabit the planet, unaware of their kind's demise in the far future and of the turmoil engulfing the World millions of years in the future. Among them, live the inhabitants of the peaceful Great Valley, isolated from the chaos that surrounds them. And amongst the inhabitants, live a young group of Dinosaurs: Littlefoot the Longneck, Cera the Threehorn, Ducky the Swimmer, Spike the Spiketail, and Ruby the Fast Runner, enjoy their young lives and live in peace in their beloved Valley._"

"_Unknown to both Littlefoot and his friends and the Humans of this wartorn world, events are in store that will cause one unfortunate American to wind up in the Great Valley and for these two timelines in the long and traumatic history of Earth to cross._"

Images of Littlefoot and his friends, Ramirez's squad, Price, MacTavish, Makarov, Shepard, and others appeared before all went black. Then, the words "_A BAR18 Production_" appeared and then the giant Grey colored words "**Crossed Paths: A Call of Duty/Land Before Time Crossover**" replaced it. Finally, the words faded, the blackness dissipated, and the story began.

* * *

Cera walked through a small forest in the Great Valley, one of many that helped provide so much food for its inhabitants. Her stomach was growling, yet she didn't pay attention to this, for her mind was too busy thinking of other things for her to eat.

It had been a few years since she and her friends arrived in the Valley, and now they were grown up. Recently, Petrie, Ducky, and even Spike were attempting to acquire mates, though Cera and Littlefoot preferred to keep to themselves, and talk about the past. Actually, the two loved each other very much, and they had a relationship that has been going on for quite some time. Sadly, they both thought about ending the relationship, due to their both being of different species, and worse, the fact that they wouldn't be able to reproduce and have children together.

Both of these factors pained the two lovers greatly, though it also pained them to end the relationship, but Littlefoot assured the Threehorn it was for the best, that they would have to get mates of their own respective kinds. The only problem with this was that unlike with their friends, there weren't many Threehorns Cera's age or Longnecks Littlefoot's age in the Valley, so Cera personally wondered if she would have offspring and a future whether she was stuck with Littlefoot or not.

Now, that was almost a week ago, and it still continues to pain the young Threehorn very much, and she feared she may never have offspring or a mate. She was on her way to visit Littlefoot to see if he had better luck than she did, which she doubted very much.

Finally, she walked out of the trees to see a large Tan colored Longneck lying on the ground, which she instantly recognized as her old friend.

She ran over to him, calling out "Littlefoot! Hey, Littlefoot!"

The Longneck looked at his old friend and said in a depressed tone "Hey, Cera."

The Threehorn asked him "Still miss your grandparents, huh?"

Nodding, he told her "I- I miss them so much, it's been almost a single Cold Time, and I still miss them."

"That's too bad." Replied the Female with a saddened look on her face, before she asked "Hey, are you having much luck finding a mate?"

Littlefoot shook his head and replied "Nah, there aren't a whole lot of Longnecks my age in the Valley, Male or Female, so it's impossible finding the right one."

Cera looked at him with a sad and sympathizing look on her face, and told him "Yeah, me too, it's hard finding the perfect mate for me, there are some Males my age in the Valley, but they're all either not right for me, or they're already committed."

She looked straight at her friend's face, called his name to catch his attention, and asked "Littlefoot, have you thought us calling off our relationship was a mistake?"

The Longneck stared down at the Threehorn, sighed, and told her "Somewhat, I just—I just wonder if it's a good idea to resume our relationship, what with your dad and all, after all, he hates my mere presence around you alone. If he found out that you were having a relationship with me, he'd… I just don't wish to think about it."

The Threehorn stared at him, a look of concern and sadness on her face, she began to sniffle and her eyes watered up. Finally, she spoke up "Don't worry, Littlefoot, I'll see if I can talk to my dad and convince him to endorse our relationship, hopefully, he'll understand, especially now with Tria by his side."

She then walked off headed towards her nest, intent on convincing her father about the couple's relationship.


	2. Argument and a Bitter Realization

**Chapter 2: Argument and a Bitter Realization**

When she got there, she found her father munching on leaves from a bush, with her step-mother and step-sister nowhere to be seen. She approached the old Threehorn and called to him "Um, daddy, I need to talk to you about something…."

He asked "What?" and turned around to face his daughter, despite his age, he was still a huge and physically intimidating figure, and he had as bad a temper as ever, though it was largely controlled by his mate Tria.

Flinching at first, she told him "I- it's about me and Littlefoot."

"Well?" asked the old Threehorn "What's it about?"

She hesitated, gulped loudly, and then finally summoned up the courage to inform him "I- I- I… may be in love with him."

Her father's face turned from a look of puzzlement and curiosity to one of complete and total rage "WHAT?!" he snapped "Cera, I can't BELIEVE this! How long has this been going on?!!!"

"F- for qu- quite some time…"

"AND YOU NEVER EVEN TOLD ME?!!! What the HELL'S the matter with you?!! He's a FLATHEAD, for God's sake, why are YOU in LOVE with HIM?!"

"I don't know it's just that I've known him for so long, that I guess it grew into love."

"Cera, do you realize how much this might tarnish my reputation?! I mean, if the others in the Valley hear about this, they might see me AND my family in a low light, do you even CARE about the dignity of you and your family?!!"

The young Female, inbetween tears, defiantly snapped "I do care about my dignity and that of my family, but this isn't about me OR my family's dignity, this is about YOU and YOUR dignity, you don't give a flying SHIT about me OR Littlefoot's kind in general!!!"

The Threehorn gasped loudly, shocked by his daughter's attitude and her using a very serious swear word to him. He then growled "WHAT did you say?!"

"You heard me!" replied the defiant Female "I don't give a crap about you, you ASSHOLE!!"

"Where did you LEARN those words, Cera?!"

"It's none of your goddamned fucking business, _dad_!" snapped an infuriated Cera "I don't give a CRAP about you or you damned selfishness, I love Littlefoot, and I wish to be with him!"

"You do that, and I'm gonna reveal your relationship to EVERYBODY in the Valley!"

Her father's comment made her turn to face the huge Threehorn, on his face was a look of deviousness and satisfaction at finding an ace in the hole. He had a big toothy grin on his face, though it was not a pleasant one, it was an evil smile, one that a person would display after doing something mean.

She asked "What?"

"You heard me," replied her father "If you continue the relationship, I will tell everyone, and you will not only have to deal with me, but every single individual in the Great Valley, an impossible task to perform, if I say so myself."

A look of shock, horror, and sadness overtook her; she sniffled and said "Fine! Then, I hope you DIE a painful death AT THE HANDS OF A SHARPTOOTH!!!"

With that, she ran away into a thicket of trees and bushes, her father calling out "Cera! CERA!! Please, understand!"

She didn't pay attention to him, she didn't feel like he was her father anymore, to her right now, he was a ruthless tyrant, preventing her from loving Littlefoot. She ran faster than she ever did in her life, until finally, she came to a lone tree, standing all by itself in the middle of a grove of trees. She came to a rest, exhausted, and collapsed to the ground, sobbing, and put her paws over her eyes as she cried her heart out.

She never felt this much sadness in her whole life, it felt like a chunk of her heart was torn out, and could never be put back. Her mind went through a flurry of thoughts, she felt that there was no way she could ever mate with Littlefoot without dealing with the prejudices of the other inhabitants of the Valley, nor could she have children with her Longnecked companion. She feared she would die alone if she felt something could not be done about her situation. But what she was unaware of was that events were in store that would end her painful dilemma…


	3. Rough Morning

**Chapter 3: Rough Morning**

Private James Ramirez awoke to the well-furnished interior of the White House, codenamed "Whiskey Hotel". He realized he was on the floor of one of the bedrooms in the legendary Presidential Manor and was in a sleeping bag. As his thoughts cleared up, he recalled the rough day he had yesterday, from fighting his way through the Department of Commerce building, to firing a helicopter-mounted Minigun at Russian troops, to fighting for control of Whiskey Hotel in a huge monsoon.

He thought about the weird dream he just had…

_In it, he saw a Valley, lush and green; it looked like a paradise, with huge amounts of plants and a lot of water pools. In this valley, there was an extensive array of different plant eating Dinosaurs, though no carnivorous ones. He then saw a gang of youngsters play amidst the trees, an Apatosaurus, a Triceratops, a Tyrannosaurus (quite surprising, given the lack of other carnivores in the Valley), an Oviraptor, a Stegosaurus, a Saurolophus, and a Pteranodon play in the Valley and enjoy many adventures._

He wondered about this strange dream, as the young Army Ranger had not thought much about Dinosaurs since he was just a kid. Back then, he was enamored with those ancient Reptiles, just like any child his age, though he had a unique expert knowledge of them, which made him seem like an Einstein of Dinosaurs. But, eventually, he grew out of it, like all kids, and became enamored with history and the military, largely forgetting his love for Dinosaurs. So, his dream confused him, especially about the Valley, the Dinosaurs, and the youngsters at play. However, his think tank soon ended as a knock came on the door, and a tall man with Sky Blue eyes and a Delta Force-style helmet walked in and told him "Hey, Ramirez, get your ass out of bed, the Sarge wants you down in the West Wing."

Sighing, Ramirez told him "I'll be down shortly, Dunn."

"Alright, just checking…" commented Dunn, who stepped out of the room.

Ramirez grumbled, ever since he was first sent into combat only a few days ago, he had practically been the squad's errand boy, performing all sorts of near suicidal tasks, from shooting down helicopters to fending off waves of Russian troops with a Predator drone he controlled. He was now sick of it; he didn't join the Rangers with being the gofer of the squad in mind. He wanted to leave the squad and army life for good, but there was just one problem: He'd be deserting, and since it is wartime, if he was caught, he was screwed. But, he didn't want to deal with the hardships of Army service anymore, and unfortunately, desertion was the only plausible solution right now.

However, his strange dream came back into thought, and he remembered the Dinosaurs in it, he couldn't help but realize that the Dinosaurs had it easier than he did, as they weren't forced to go to war or become the practical lackey of the Rangers. So, he thought that he could become a Dinosaur; his expert knowledge of them could come in handy in living amongst them, as one of their own kind. Though there was still the problem of how was he going to live as a Dinosaur, as he was unsure of how could he become one and how he could travel to the Age of the Dinosaurs, as time travel was practically impossible to achieve. There was no way in hell could he be able to go back millions of years in the past, no one had the technology to do that, or so he thought.

He got up, walked through the door, and headed for the West Wing, where his commander, Sergeant Foley, was.

When he got there, he saw Dunn, Foley, and various other Rangers in the President's office, on one side of the room was the entrance from whence the Americans came in, and scattered all along the floor of the building were the bodies of American and Russian soldiers alike, the former fell to take the White House and the latter fell defending it.

Foley informed him "Ramirez, glad you're here. Sleep well last night?"

"Sorta." Came the reply

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that," replied the Sergeant "Of course, after all we've been through yesterday, I can't blame you. Anyway, we have new orders; Overlord informed us that reinforcements from the Virginian National Guard are soon to move across the Potomac, our assignment is to meet up with them. Hopefully, they'll come quite in handy for kicking Ivan out of the city for good!"

The Rangers walked out of the room, Dunn was about to join them, when Ramirez called to him "Hey, dude, ya got a minute?"

The Corporal sighed and he groaned "Yeah, I guess, whatever."

"Good, cause what I wanna tell you is something that's best discussed in private…"

Dunn's eyes widened with surprise and he said "Whoa! Ramirez, haven't you heard of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'?!"

"It's not that! It's just that…. I dunno, I just don't think Army life's for me, y'know?"

"Um, dude, haven't you heard the old tag "There's strong, and then there's Army strong"? You _need _to learn how to be Army strong and who better to teach you than moi?"

The Pfc rolled his eyes in utter annoyance and informed him "It isn't just Army life or how stressful my service in this whole Goddamned war, it's my life at home that I'm also stressed about. I mean, my parents are abusive as hell, I broke up with my girlfriend recently-"

"I thought you and your girlfriend broke up the relationship" interrupted Dunn

The Private glared at him and scorned "Well, yeah, but technically, I _did _break up with her."

"Whatever, man, keep going…"

"My job's a real shitpile, my boss' an asshole, my old car looks like I just bought it from a junkyard; I don't have any friends, well, aside from you guys…"

Corporal Dunn chuckled, and then replied "Yeah, that's what we're here for, man."

"And on top of all that, my neck and back have been hurting like hell for the past couple days!"

"Do you think it's from stress?"

"It may have played a part." replied Ramirez looking into the Corporal's Blue eyes "But, all this combined is making me feel miserable, in fact…." He paused for a moment, before summoning up the courage to tell Dunn (while looking at his boots) "I think the best solution for me is to leave this crappy life of mine."

Dunn looked at the rookie in shock and asked him "You- You're actually… thinking of- of _suicide_??"

Ramirez looked at his friend and replied "What?! Hell no, why would I wanna take my own life?!"

"But, you said you want to leave your crappy life! Didn't you?"

Shaking his head, the Pfc told him "Of course, but I meant maybe become an animal."

"Huh? What the hell are ya talkin' about man?"

"Well, I used to be so enamored with Dinosaurs when I was a kid, and last night, I had a dream about them, even though I haven't talked much nor dreamed about Dinosaurs for a very long time."

"Wait, so you want to be a DINOSAUR??!"

"It's better than being a Human, I'll tell you that."

"Man, that is one fucked up plan, you got there, Ramirez."

"You think it's crazy?"

"Well, duh!" the Corporal chuckled "It's just—how do you plan on being a Dinosaur, you're a Human, it's impossible to become a Dinosaur, besides, it would require time travel to get to the Age of the Dinosaurs, man! There's no way in HELL all that's gonna happen!"

"Well, what do you suppose I do, Desert?!!"

"Ooh, no way man, desertion's a capital offense, if you get caught, you're pretty much fucked."

"Well, then what _should_ I do?"

"Just live a little, as my dad always said 'There's always a silver lining in every bad situation'."

Ramirez stared at his companion and asked him "Wasn't your dad torn apart by bears ten years ago?"

Dunn scowled at the FNG and told him "Er, my point is, in every bad situation, no matter how horrible and fucked up it seems, there's always a silver lining, and by that, I mean something good to come out."

The Private First Class thought to himself for a short while before he replied to Dunn's comment "Y'know, dude, you're right! Maybe my situation will get better!"

"Exactly, that's the spirit, Ramirez!" replied a smiling Cpl. Dunn.

"Thanks, dude, I don't what I could've done without ya!"

"No problems man, besides, I think I saw some beer in the kitchen fridge, would you mind bringing it to my room?" Dunn asked the Private, smiling at his sarcastic comment

Ramirez stared at Dunn in an unamused tone, who asked "What?!" the Private told him "Y'know, it's crap like that why I hate being in the Army."

The Corporal chuckled at Ramirez's comment "You've got quite a wit for an FNG, you know."

Just then, a Ranger walked in and told him "What're you idiots doing in here?"

Dunn told him "We're talking about stuff."

"What is this, My Dinner with Andre, get your asses outside! The Sarge is waitin' for ya, and he ain't very happy."

"Uh-oh, the Sarge isn't happy, I better get out there before he has one of his meltdowns!" commented Dunn, the Private laughed at the comment. Dunn began to walk outside, though he turned around and asked Ramirez "Hey, ya comin?"

The Pfc nodded and told the Corporal "Yeah, I just need a minute."

"Well, hurry up!"

Ramirez chuckled and said "Okay!"

Once Dunn was gone, the Pfc looked around the room, thinking about his conversation with Dunn and what he told him, and of his weird dream. Finally, he heard the Sergeant's distant voice "Ramirez! Get your ass out here; we need to move before the Army fully crosses the river!"

"Okay, I'll be there shortly!" he shouted to his C.O and he grabbed his M4 carbine and began walking out, but he turned around to take one last look at the President's office before stepping outside. What he did not realize at the time was that events were in store that would fulfill his wish to leave life as a Human and will also cause him to cross paths with a certain lovesick and desperate Triceratops…


	4. Street Battle

**Chapter 4: Street Battle**

Later on, the Rangers were walking down Washington Avenue when suddenly; a rocket propelled grenade flew seemingly out of nowhere and impacted a little ways way from the Rangers, sending a Prius hybrid nearby flying.

"Ambush!" exclaimed one of the Rangers

"Hostiles, in the buildings, open fire, Rangers!" screamed an unidentified Sergeant.

At that moment, a swarm of Brown colored soldiers appeared out of the buildings to the Americans' right, screaming in Russian and armed mostly with AK-47s and RPDs. "Hostiles coming out of the buildings, 3:00, open fire, open fire!" Dunn screamed.

The Rangers opened fire on the Russian troops swarming out of the buildings, cutting them all down in an instant. Suddenly, more Russians stormed out of buildings further up the road, intent on a headlong rush into the Americans. Foley turns to Ramirez, who thought to himself "_Oh god no, don't, don't…"_

"Ramirez!" the Sergeant barked, the Pfc sighed before Foley continued "Sweep those buildings at 3:00, we'll handle the Ivans out here, move!"

The Private reluctantly ran towards the buildings, thinking to himself "_Heh, this is how I might leave this life; I get killed in the next couple minutes!_" He kicked in the door to the closest building to the squad and enters, unsure as to what lay in wait for the unsuspecting Ranger.

After searching several rooms, he decided to check one room he had not yet cleared, which was located deep in the building, and was tucked from sight from the windows that opened to the outside.

He crept towards the room and stepped through the archway, when he took a look to his left, and that's when he was bludgeoned on the head by a Russian armed with an AK. The impact caused Ramirez to fall towards the floor, his head resting against the wall. He looked up to see several Russian soldiers standing over him, chatting in Russian, and after some time, his world went black as he finally lost consciousness. Thus would begin the events that would cause the lives of a Ranger stressed out about his life and a Triceratops desperate for a mate and love to cross paths, and for the two to join together in what would be the most unusual adventure in their young lives…


	5. Star Gazer

**Chapter 5: Star Gazer**

Cera stared up at the starry night sky, the light from the twinkling dots high above making her Emerald eyes appear more attractive. She had a worried and depressed look on her youthful and feminine face. She sighed in a depressed tone, she had been thinking about the events that have transpired today, what her father told her, and about her relationship with Littlefoot.

Suddenly, she heard a familiar Female voice say "Hey, Cera" the Threehorn turned around to see a large pink colored Threehorn that was smaller than her father standing a little ways away, it was her stepmother Tria. Cera glared at the older Female and growled "What do you want?!"

Tria told her "I want to talk to you about…Littlefoot."

Cera, with a look of anger and sadness, snapped "I already talked it over with my dad, so fuck off!"

The older Female, shocked by her cursing, scorned "Cera, Where did you learn such dirty language like that?!"

Cera snarled "It's none of your damned business, alright?! Now, leave me alone!"

Tria's look of annoyance softened to one of concern for the distraught young Threehorn; clearly she was going though a lot of emotional stress lately with her father forbidding their relationship from continuing any further, so she told her "Topsy told me what happened earlier."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! What'd the old coot tell ya?"

Tria informed her "I'm sorry about you and Littlefoot, about your relationship and all; you must be going through a real tough situation here."

Nodding, the younger Female told her stepmother "Yeah, tougher than others I've had before, I mean, Littlefoot is my friend, and I've known him for so long, it just…it pains me to break up with him. Though a part of me says it's for the best, for if I stay with him, I'll never have a future or any children."

Her stepmother instructed her "Well, the best solution to hard decisions like this is to go what your heart tells you."

"That's it?"

"Yep, you must go with what your heart tells you what's the best thing to do, whether stick with Littlefoot or find someone else."

Cera thought for a short while before she replied "Thanks, Tria, you've helped me with my problem: I should do what my heart tells me to do."

The older Threehorn nods and tells her stepdaughter "Glad to be of help in your dilemma." And she walks away, heading back towards her nest.

Cera looks up at the sky and sees a star streak across the sky, she whispers "I- I wish to acquire a perfect mate for me, someone to talk to, someone, who has a similar personality to my own, someone…. I could, relate to."

As she witnesses the star disappear, she wondered if her wish would come true, which she doubted entirely, and that things will never change to help her terrible situation. So, she turns and heads in the direction of her family nest, taking one last look at the sky, her dreamy eyes displaying sorrow at the horrible situation she's stuck in. She sighed and thought that she will never find the right Male for her, and continued to head to her nest. What she didn't realize was that events were already under way that would end her sorrows for good…


	6. New Form

**Chapter 6: New Form**

**And yes, I have edited this chapter. I'm sure the new version's better than the old one.

* * *

**

Ramirez woke up to find himself strapped to a wooden chair in a dark room with a single lamp hanging from the ceiling shining light down on him. He looked around the near pitch darkness and asked himself "Where the hell am I?"

Just then, he heard a door open, and several men walked into the room, three of them were wearing what looked like well maintained suits, two had brown hair, and the third had black. One of the Brown-haired men was quite large and a physically intimidating looking figure and the second man was leaner and looked like he hadn't been treated very well. But it was the third man that caught the Ranger's eye, as he had a skinny physique, slight stubble on his upper lip and chin, had bushy black hair, and had one eye that was Green and another that was Blue, a result of obvious _Heterochromia Iridium_. Ramirez had seen this last man before, in the news, wanted as an international terrorist.

"Makarov…" the Ranger growled while bearing his teeth

The man chuckled and said "So…you watch the news, maybe there's more to you Americans than I thought."

"Where am I?" Ramirez asked him

"That's nothing that concerns you…" the Russian terrorist growled

Ramirez looked around the room and asked the Russian "Why am I here, what do you plan to do with me?"

Makarov chuckled and replied "Surely, you're not as smart as I think you are…"

"Just cut to the case, Makarov, what do you want with me?"

Makarov smiled and told the American "Simple…" and then he called to the large man "Victor" and began instructing him in Russian. Once he was done, Victor walked out of the room and came back a few minutes later pushing a cart with what looked like a glass pitcher full of water, a glass cup, and a pill container with the lid open. Victor poured some water from the pitcher to the cup and then handed it to Makarov

The terrorist mastermind then grabbed a pill (reddish in color) and then walked towards Ramirez. Confused, the Ranger asked "What's this, a joke? What the hell's in the pill, poison?"

Makarov replied "No, it's something else, though I cannot tell you what it's in it"

"What's in it?"

"Just take the damn pill!" growled Makarov and he extended the hand carrying the pill. Curious as to what was in it; Ramirez snatched the pill from the Russian's hand and put it into his mouth. He then grabbed the cup and drank until it was empty, and then finally swallowed.

Handing the cup back, Ramirez commented "Y'know, that was kinda weird, for a moment there I thought you wanted to kill me!"

Makarov asked "Why would I want to kill you?"

"Um, cause you're Vladimir Makarov?"

The Russian terrorist's response was a quick scoff and he and the others walked out of the room, to which Ramirez asked "What?" before the door was shut, isolating the American in a sea of darkness once more...

* * *

Once the door was shut, Anatoly asked Makarov "Um was that necessary? Couldn't you just kill him and get it over with?"

"I need him to test the pill"

Victor snorted "Yeah, well, your idea of turning your troops into Dinosaurs is the dumbest idea I've heard."

"Yeah!" "Totally!" "It IS freaking stupid!" the soldiers commented in agreement.

Makarov rolled his eyes and said "Fine, how about this: We only use the pills on prisoners and send them back in time with that machine Zakhaev built."

Anatoly commented "YES! It's more eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil!" tapping his fingertips together before letting out a half evil, half goofy laugh.

Makarov frowned and told him "Okay, never do that again, Anatoly"

"Sorry"

"Sounds good to me, though Anatoly here didn't help!" Victor replied

Anatoly asked "By the way, where did you get the pills and the machine."

Makarov smiled and told his wimpy henchman "Let's just say there's a scientist somewhere in Russia who abides to our every whim."

* * *

Ramirez sat there, strapped to the chair in the middle of the darkened room, wondering what was with the pill thing, and what was in it. After seemingly an eternity of silence and thoughts going around his head, Ramirez suddenly felt a strange painful sensation in his lower back. It was unlike any pain he suffered from before; it was an intense burning pain that continued to burn and never seemed to end.

Suddenly, he felt the seat of his pants ripping open, and what felt like a portion of his body struggling to rip through. At the same time, he realized that the hairs on his arms and head were beginning to fall off, and his skin was becoming a Dark Green color and was developing scales like that of a Lizard's. All of a sudden, he noticed something wiggle behind him, and he managed to grab it with his right arm, but felt the hand wrap itself around a part of himself. He managed to rip off the ropes that strapped him to his chair with ease, whereas before he wasn't even able to loosen them up.

Surprised by this display of new-found strength, he then noticed a large, long, and wiggly tail behind his back. He grabbed the end, and examined the tail more closely, he could see that it was thick and had a pointed end. His examination was interrupted by a sharp pain coming from his head, worse than the one from where the tail had seemingly come from. What he didn't know was that his skull was taking shape to match that of a creature long extinct from this Earth.

On the tip of his mouth, a hard bony beak similar to a parrot's began forming; replacing the soft skin and tissue there was before. Ramirez suddenly felt some of his teeth falling out of his mouth, and felt new ones forming in their places.

Then, he felt sick to his stomach, as he felt a weird feeling inside of him, which was enough to cause him to vomit. What he did not know was that his organs were rearranging themselves into those of an animal, long since it had ruled the Earth so many millions of years ago.

Finally, weak and dizzy from this, he finally to the ground and witnessed the world around turn totally pitch black.


	7. Unusual Sleepstory

**Chapter 7: Unusual Sleepstory**

_Cera woke up to find herself in a pitch black cave with an entrance right in front of her, and beyond that entrance were several creatures hiding behind what looked like a rock wall, unlike any she had ever seen before. They were bipedal and were clutching strange sticks that shone in the evening sun. They were screaming various things in Leaf Eater that she wasn't able to catch, although she overheard one call out "Sandler, target, two o' clock!"_

_She raised her hands, which were covered in what appeared to be some strange sort of material, although there were holes in the material which allowed her old Crème skin to be exposed. _

_Just then, one of the creatures ran up to her, gave her one of the sticks, telling her "Take this, and stay down!" _

_Just then, a spurt of blood shot of his head, and he slumped to the ground, Cera watching his body fall with horror in her attractive eyes, then one of the other creatures shouted "Wade's down!"_

_Someone shouted "McCord, reloading, cover me!"_

_A voice, obviously belonging to the one called McCord, shouted back "McCord covering!"_

_Then, several flying objects streaked through the sky above, creating a thunderous noise that sounded like nothing the young Threehorn had ever heard. At the same time, she began firing at several creatures which were moving in on her and the band of the creatures she was with, she could tell they were bad, judging how they were trying to shoot at her., Her bursts took several of them down. Cera was enjoying this, she felt a new power she hadn't encounter before surging through her as she realized she could take down a being with these weird sticks alone. Unfortunately, her stick ceased f_

_iring, and she tried several times to continue to fire, but nothing happened._

_Just then, a man screamed "Last mag!"_

_And then, one of the creatures nearest her, obviously the one who called out that Wade was down, shouted to her "Ramirez! Last mag, make it count!" throwing her a curved black object towards her, which she easily managed to grab. Despite her unfamiliarity with this, she quickly pulled out the curved part of the stick, and inserted the curved object in its spot._

_She then fired several more times, until her stick once again fell silent, and she exclaimed "Crap!" in frustration. She could see the bad creatures running away, but she then noticed a strange object hovering in the air, she personally was not aware of Flyers ever doing that, no matter how much they bragged about their flying skills. _

_Meanwhile, though all that, she could hear the creatures continue to shout various things, these were the things she could pick up easily:_

"_Ammo check!"_

"_There's too many of them!"_

"_John, last mag!"_

"_Sandler, sound off!"_

"_Contact, eighty meters!"_

"_Got it, got it!"_

_Just then, the creature near the end of the wall raised himself and shouted "Right sir, three rounds left!" then, he fell and hit the ground, the creature who threw Cera the curved object shouted "Corporal! Hang on!"_

_The creature who hit the ground mumbled "Oh shit." as the second dragged him to safety, aided by Cera firing her stick._

_The second creature ordered "Defend this position!" _

_Just then, the hovering object nearest to the group approached them, and then Cera saw a bright light, blurring her vision, and then she heard a voice call "Cera!"_

When the light dissipated, she found the soft kind face of her stepmother smiling at her, she said to her stepdaughter "There you are, it's about time you wake up, you were worrying me there, tossing and turning like that! Did you have another one of those Sleepstories again?"

Cera nodded, and then Tria asked "What was it about this time?"

The young Threehorn explained her Sleepstory to the older Female, who just listened in extreme interest. Recently, Cera had unusual Sleepstories similar to the one she just had, where she was an individual named "Cera Ramirez" and she appeared to be the only Threehorn amongst the creatures. She had told everyone she knew about them and everything that went on in them: her parents, her little sister, her friends, and even many inhabitants of the Great Valley she didn't know.

After she finished explaining the Sleepstory, Tria said to her "Wow that is interesting. That's probably the third or fourth Sleepstory of that sort you've had these past few days. You'd think it was like a warning or something."

Cera nodded, and then watched as her stepmother walked towards the river, joining her daughter and mate who were already there. Cera decided to take a stroll through the Valley to try and get her mind off her conversation with her father and the relationship with Littlefoot, paying more attention instead towards the strange Sleepstories she had been having the past few days.

As she was walking past some trees and bushes, she passed a Threehorn couple looking over a nest of eggs. In her mind, she wished she would have hatchlings, though she knew it would be impossible as she hadn't found the perfect mate for her, there was no way she would have children with Littlefoot, and the Cold Season would end soon, so she had little time to find a mate and reproduce before then.

But, the young Threehorn had no idea how close she was to fulfilling her wish to acquire a mate…


	8. Wake Up Call

**Chapter 8: Wake-Up Call**

Ramirez opened his eyes to discover he was in the middle of a lush forest, which startled him, as he was unsure how he had gotten from the dark room in Makarov's hideout to here. He got up, though he wasn't able to stand on his hind legs very well, so he wound up standing on all four of his legs, which much to his surprise went along smoothly. He took a good look at his arms, which were a dark green sort of color, and were much shorter and of a different shape than they were before, and his hands were also differently shaped and sized.

Suddenly, he felt a strong hungry feeling inside his body, which indicated that he needed food, he chuckled, his vomiting the remnants of his last meal draining his body of energy. So, he decided to walk around, find something to eat, however, he felt some sort of urge to eat from one of the nearby bushes, which he resisted at first, but he was so hungry he finally gave in, and he walked over to the bushes and grabbed the whole thing in his mouth and ate it. Surprisingly, it tasted pretty good, despite it being a dumb ol' bush, and he proceeded to eat from several more bushes as well as some ferns.

After he ate his fill, he felt an urge to drink some water, so he walked away to find the nearest pool of water. Sure enough, he found one shortly afterwards, and raced towards it intent upon drinking from it, his running causing the earth to shake multiple times, though he didn't notice it. As he approached the watering hole, however, he saw his reflection in the water, but it wasn't that of the gruff Army Ranger, but rather a creature with an oddly shaped head, a big horn on its nose, two long ones above its eyes, and a large shield like frill on the back of the head.

In response to seeing his reflection, he gasped loudly and screamed at the top of his lungs: "**HOLY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!**"

He jumped backwards, frightened by the strange thing reflecting on the water. He neared the pool, seeing his reflection on the surface, it took him a little bit to realize that the creature he was one he heard about long ago. He asked himself "I- I'm a _Triceratops_? FUCK!"

He took a big sip from the water pool and swallowed quite loudly, and walked away. He returned to the clearing he woke up in and slumped to the ground, muttering all kinds of things, as he realized what he was now.

He was unaware of the creature that was approaching him, her desperation for a mate soon to end…


	9. The Paths Cross

**Chapter 9: The Paths Cross**

Cera was walking all by herself in the forest, when she suddenly hears a Male voice scream "HOLY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" she ran in the direction of where the voice came from, unsure as to who screamed. She eventually finds a slightly smaller muscular dark Green Threehorn all by himself lying on the ground near a tree, muttering to himself.

She decided to approach this mysterious Threehorn, and ask him what he was muttering about. Little did she know how close she was to her goal of acquiring a mate...

* * *

Ramirez was lying on his belly, wondering where he was and why he was a Triceratops, when he came to a sudden conclusion "Makrov…" he growled, he realized, that was what the mysterious liquid was for, that was what Makarov meant by all that he said.

Suddenly, a Female voice called out "Hi there!" catching the former Ranger off guard. He turned around, thinking to see a woman standing behind him, but received quite a surprise when he saw that it was instead a large Crème colored Triceratops that appeared larger than he was, and was very muscular, while at the same time lean and attractive.

He screamed and jumped back against the tree, staring at the Dinosaur with surprise. The giant Reptile chuckled and said "Oh, you scardy egg, you're acting like you're surprised to see me!"

"Damn right!" replied the still startled Ramirez, and then he asked "Hey, how the hell did you learn to talk?"

"Huh? I've talked since I was a hatchling, of course I can talk!"

Ramirez then stared into the Female's Green eyes, which sparkled like two Emerald gems, and he asked her "What's your name?"

Giggling, the Crème Dinosaur replied "I'm Cera, what about you? What's your name?"

The smaller Male smiled and told her in a proud tone "I'm James Ramirez, but you can call me James, or just Jim, no Ramirez, okay?"

Nodding, Cera asked him "James Ramirez… that's an odd name for a Threehorn."

"A what?" asked a confused Ramirez

"A Threehorn, that's what you and I are, cause we both have three horns."

"Oh, I get it now." Replied Ramirez, now understanding the Female's terminology

"So, what the hell happened to you? I've never seen you before, _Ramirez."_

Slightly annoyed by the use of his last name, but willing to let it past, due to Cera's friendliness and attractiveness, replied "Er, I'm- not sure what happened to me. In fact, I don't even know where the hell I even am."

Cera smiled at the younger Male's comment, and blushed, before telling him "Why, you're in the Great Valley, of course!"

Ramirez stared at Cera in bewilderment before saying "The GREAT VALLEY? What kind of a cheesy-assed name for a place is that?"

Cera told him "Why, it's the most beautiful place in the land, full of more food you can ever eat, and more water than you could ever drink! My friends and I have lived here for a very long time."

"Friends?" asked the younger Male "You have friends? Can I meet 'em?" smiling excitedly at his Female counterpart

The larger Crème Triceratops nodded and told him "Yeah, I could take you to them; I haven't joined up with them yet today."

She headed towards her friends' usual meeting spot, by the tall trees, and she called to Ramirez "Come on, Jim! My friends can't wait forever!"

"I'm coming!" Ramirez called back and he followed the larger Female, beginning to get used to his new life as a Dinosaur.


	10. Meting Unusual Friends

**Chapter 10: Meeting Unusual Friends**

As the two walked through the forests that covered the Great Valley so, Cera said to Ramirez "Okay Ramirez, my friends are a little… different..."

"Really? How so?" asked the younger Ramirez

Cera hesitated for a moment before saying "Uh, well, Littlefoot's a Longneck, Ducky's a Swimmer, Petrie's a Flyer, and Spike's a Spiketail, and Ruby's a Fast Runner. We were friends with a Sharptooth named Chomper, but he left a couple years ago, and we haven't seen him or heard from him since." Sighing, remembering the memory of the young Sharptooth leaving the Great Valley to "Find more food, and the fact that all the Leaf Eaters here are those I know, thus, it would be painful for me to hunt them".

"I'm sorry to hear your friend left the Valley" replied Ramirez, a concerned look on his face

The older Female nodded before continuing "Anyway, Littlefoot, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike have been searching for mates recently, same with me."

Ramirez looked at her and replied in a sad tone "Oh…"

Cera smiled at the Male's response and told him "Oh, I haven't found a perfect Mate for me yet. There just aren't any Males that are perfect for me here…"

Ramirez said sympathetically "That's too bad; you would make a great partner. Any Male would be lucky to have you as their mate."

The older Female blushed then smiled and said in a quiet voice "You like me!"

Taken by surprise by what Cera stated, Ramirez replied "No, I don't!"

"Yes, you do!" giggled Cera in a playful tone "You like me! You really do!"

"NO, I DON'T, DAMMIT!" screamed Ramirez in an angry tone

"Oh come on, you deny it, but in your heart, you _liiiiiiiiike_ me!" giggling louder and louder

"Cera, STOP IT!"

"Or what?"

"Or… um…"

Laughing, Cera neared Ramirez's face and whispered "I figured you were gonna say that." And then she pushed him against a nearby tree with her forehead, and she began holding the smaller Male tighter and tighter until he confessed out loud "Alright, alright, I admit it, I admit! I _do_ like you, I _do_ like you!"

Giggling, she let go, and she said "Ha ha, I knew it!"

"Jeez, Cera" grumbled Ramirez "you can be a real bitch!"

"I know" Cera replied, and she smiled back at him, a big toothy grin, and she giggled a little bit. Ramirez couldn't help but smile, there was something about this Triceratops that made his spirit feel uplifted whenever she smiled a big toothy grin or giggled, that was one of the reasons he was beginning to like her.

As the two Triceratopses reached a clearing in the forest, they could see several large Dinosaurs a little ways away on the other side of the clearing. Ramirez easily identified the incredibly massive one with the terrifically long neck as an Apatosaurus, and one rather large Dino with giant plates on its back as a Stegosaurus, although he couldn't identify the tall and lanky one very clearly, though he figured it was some kind of Hadrosaur.

He asked "Who are they?"

Cera excitedly said "Oh, those are my friends, I'll be back, I've just gotta tell them about you!" and she bolted out into the clearing and ran towards the group.

* * *

Littlefoot, Ducky, Spike, Petrie, and Ruby had gathered in a large clearing, their usual meeting spot nowadays, waiting for Cera to show up. Their Threehorned friend had told them about the argument with her father, and they were greatly concerned about how her mood would be. They feared she would be sad, distraught, depressed, suicidal even.

Thus, they were surprised to see her run out of the trees, she was excited about something, but what they did not know what it was about.

"Guys! Guys! I have something to tell you!"

"First explain why you're all cheery now." Replied Ruby in a concerned tone

"Oh yes, you were sad and gloomy yesterday, yes you were, yup, yup!" commented Ducky

Littlefoot said "Cera, please explain, you were so depressed yesterday, I want to know why you're so happy now."

Cera looked directly at her friend's eyes and said "I- I met someone."

"Really?" asked the Swimmer

"What his name?" queried Petrie

"Uh, James Ramirez, he prefers it if you call him James or just Jim, no Ramirez."

"James Ramirez?" asked Littlefoot

"That's an odd name, it is, it is!" commented Ducky

"Well, I'm not sure where he's from, but he doesn't seem to be from around here."

Ruby asks "What makes you say that?"

"Uh, he seems to not have heard of the Great Valley before."

"Oh my! He isn't from around here!" commented Littlefoot "By the way, what is he, a Spiketail, Swimmer, Flyer, Longneck like me?"

"Er, he's a- Threehorn."

"Oh, I get it, hee hee!" giggled Ducky

"What?"

"Oh, we're wondering if…" Littlefoot started before he was interrupted by the Threehon "I may have found a potential mate?"

"Um, yeah, I guess."

"Well, he's not! He's just a Male Threehorn I know, alright?"

"Yeah whatever…"

"Anyway, how's it goin' with you guys? You ever… find a mate yet?"

"No" replied Littlefoot

"Nope, nope!" commented Ducky

"Me no find one" stated Petrie

"I gave up my search a long time ago" replied Ruby "simply because there aren't any other Fast Runners in the Valley."

Cera looked at the Swimmer and asked "Let me guess, Spike—"

Nodding, she replied "Yup, he's more interested in eating, yup, yup, yup!"

Ducky then noticed her adopted brother eating from some nearby bushes; he was definitely more interested in eating than mating. She then turned back towards the Threehorn, and asked her "Any luck?"

She glared and snapped "What's it look?"

Ducky nodded, she understood what she meant.

Cera then asked her old friend "By the way, Littlefoot, have you met anyone now?"

Shaking his head sadly, he told her "I never found a mate yesterday, nor have I found one today."

Then, he asked "By the way…Cera, why don't you introduce us to your new friend Ramirez, if he managed to cheer you up after what happened yesterday?"

Nodding, Cera turned around and headed towards the other side of the clearing.

* * *

Ramirez stood there amidst the trees, listening to the distant calls of the Great Valley Dinosaurs, he personally wondered… was this the Valley from his strange dream, and if so, was Cera and her friends the young Dinosaurs at play he saw? He pondered this, until the Crème Triceratops that was his new friend Cera ran back towards him, causing quite a stir in the ground.

When she was close enough to him, she cried out "Come on, Ramirez, my friends are waiting!"

Smiling, the Triceratops Male replied "Coming!" and he ran right towards her. Nodding, Cera began walking out into the clearing, with Ramirez following close behind. He was so close to the older Threehorn, he could easily her muscles very clearly as her tail swayed from side to side. His eyes were drawn to her muscles and tail, for he was becoming deeply attracted to the young Female.

For a long time, James had been attracted to women with tomboyish attitudes, problem was, there weren't a whole lot of them he knew with that kind of personality. Now that he was a Triceratops, he got extremely lucky by befriending Cera, after all, she had a tough tomboyish personality and best of all, she was single. Of course, there was still the problem of trying to getting her attracted to him, so he figured they'll just stay friends for now.

The two Triceratopses walked toward the group of Dinosaurs eagerly waiting for them. Ramirez could more easily see the group; he now noticed a large brown Pteranodon with large wings and a pinkish-tinted Oviraptor. He also took a closer look at the Duckbill, he could tell by the crest it wasn't a Parasaurolophus, instead, it looked like a Saurolophus, a much less well-known relative of the famous crested Hadrosaur. He could now see that the Stegosaurus was of a dark Green color, had Purple colored eyes, and, judging by it eating some nearby plants, had an enormous appetite. The Hadrosaur was tall, lanky, had a bit of a mixture of dark Green and light Green, and had shiny sky Blue eyes. The Apatosaurus was of a Tannish color with a dark Purple stripe on his back, a Crème tinted belly, and his eyes were a distinctive reddish color, putting chills down the former Ranger's spine as he had never encountered anyone with eyes that color before.

The Sauropod spoke up "You must be James Ramirez, the Threehorn Cera told us about."

Nodding, Ramirez told the Apatosaurus "Yes, yes, I am, and you are--?"

Smiling, the Apatosaurus replied "My name is Littlefoot"

Ramirez gave the Sauroped a weird look and then asked "Little—foot?"

"Yes, I know it sounds silly considering my size and strength that may seem a little strange, but my mother gave me this name when I had just hatched from my egg."

Ramirez looked straight into the Apatosaurus's eye and said to him "Y'know, your mother has very strange taste."

Littlefoot glared at the former Ranger, and the others gave him scorning looks. Looking around, Ramirez asked in an annoyed tone "What?"

Cera looked at the Male and told him "Eh, I'll explain later…"

The Hadrosaur turned to Ramirez and explained "My name's Ducky, yup, that's what it is, yup, yup, yup!"

Ramirez turned to Ducky and said "Ducky, eh? That's an interesting name for—er, whatever you are."

Duck laughs and says "Oh, I'm a Swimmer, yes, yes, yes!"

Ramirez speaks up again "Hmm, you know, you're awfully pretty for a Swimmer; I hope you find a perfect mate for you, someone as pretty as you deserves it."

Ducky blushed more than she than she ever did, and giggled more than she ever did at the Threehorn's compliment. She smiled a big toothy grin and said in a shy tone "Gosh, you really think I'm pretty? Hee, hee, you're pretty attractive for a Threehorn yourself, you are, you are!"

Cera glares at the Male and growls in a low tone "Ramirez…" annoyed that he had just hit on her best friend.

"What?" Ramirez asks in an innocent tone "All I did was compliment her, it's not like I want her to be my mate!"

Growling, Cera began to huff and puff before Littlefoot stopped her "Cera, leave him alone, how attractive he thinks Ducky is, is his business. Now, come to think of it, Ducky is…"

"Littlefoot!" the Threehorn snapped

"What? What's the matter if _I_ think how pretty Ducky is? It doesn't concern you, besides; you know we broke up our relationship, so it wouldn't affect YOU."

Ramirez turned his head towards his Female counterpart and asked her "Relationship… with Littlefoot? Okay, what the hell's going on?"

Cera grins toward the annoyed Male, his attractive bright Green eyes glowing with anger, and told him "I'll tell you later, James."

The Pterodactyl spoke up "Mine name Petrie!"

Followed by the Oviraptor "I'm Ruby!"

And then finally, Ducky pointed towards the overeating Stegosaurus and commented "And that's Spike, yep, yep!"

Ramirez stared at the giant herbivore and commented "Wow, he sure is hungry; I ain't never seen someone with an appetite like that before."

Giggling, the Swimmer replied "Now you have"

After looking around, Ramirez asked "Now, what?"

"Well, we talk" replied Littlefoot

"Uh, that's it?"

"Yeah, now that we're Grown-Ups, we can't play the games we used to…"

"Oh"

Ruby walked up to the Triceratops and asked "So, Ramirez, do you have anything to talk about?"

After thinking to himself for a few moments before saying "Yeah, I have something."

Cera asked in an excited tone "Really? Let's hear it!"

"Oh yes, yes, yes!" elated Ducky

"Well, Ramirez, let's hear it!" the Oviraptor commented

Ramirez, ignoring the use of his last name, cleared his throat and began saying "I come from a land far, far away from here, where a great conflict is occurring."

A series of gasps exhumed from the young Dinosaurs, appalled at the thought of a conflict in a land far away.

"A conflict? Oh, I don't like that at all, no, no, no!" commented Ducky

Littlefoot asks "Who's involved in this conflict, James?"

Pleased that the Apatosaurus used his first name, Ramirez says "The conflict involves two groups: The Russians and the Americans. I come from the American side."

"And, uh, who are these two groups, what are they? Are they Longnecks, Threehorns, Spiketails, Sharpteeth, what?"

"They consist of every kind, every kind imaginable, and they're tearing at each other's throats."

"How long has this thing lasted?" asked Ruby

"Oh, couple days, though it's costly all the same"

Cera asked the younger Ramirez "How did such a bloody and short thing like the one you're describing begin? How?"

Ramirez hesitated, a painful event coming into his mind, though he had to mention it. Finally, he replied "The conflict was started by one man: Vladimir Makarov, a Russian Longneck who is… well, it's hard to describe him, though the best I could say is that he is the complete OPPOSITE of all that this Valley stands for. Whereas, the Great Valley and its inhabitants stand for peace, tolerance, and justice, Makarov stands for inhumanity, cruelty, violence, and hatred. He's not above killing those who are too weak to stand up against him, especially newborn hatchlings, who he enjoys killing before they're barely able to enjoy their first few moments of life."

He paused in his story, noticing the horrified looks on his friends' faces, appalled by his vivid depiction of Makarov's cruelty.

"That's awful, it is, it is!"

"Ugh, what a horrible person, good thing he's not a Threehorn!"

"Me no like this Makarov!"

"So, what'd this Makarov guy do to trigger this conflict tearing your home apart?"

Hesitating, Ramirez imagined seeing news of the massacre at Zakhaev International Airport in Moscow, the horrible atrocity committed by Makarov. Finally, he explained "A massacre…" imagining Makarov and his men shooting innocent people at that airport "Makarov and a team of his accomplices performed a massacre, slaughtering many innocent Russians, creatures… _of all kinds._ They did it to spark a war between the Russians and the Americans, which they accomplished."

"Oh, that's terrible, I can't imagine someone pulling off something so horrible like that!" commented Ruby

Ramirez looked at the Oviraptor in a sad way and sighed, she and the other Dinosaurs were completely oblivious of the violence, hatred, bigotry, and outright evil Mankind is capable of, then again, it is for the best, as Makarov's massacre was committed millions of years after the Dinosaurs died out.

"_You wouldn't know the terrible things my kind is capable of Ruby._" The Threehorn thought before he finally turned away from the Fast Runner and continued explaining "Anyway, among the dead, they found the lone body of one of Makarov's accomplices; it turned out to be an American. Naturally, enraged by the thought of an American participating in such a brutal action, the Russian people cried for war, and their leaders--"

"—gave them one, by attacking the Americans…" interrupted Littlefoot

Nodding, Ramirez replied "Precisely."

"So, did you participate in this…Conflict?" asked Cera, a look of both concern and interest on her face

Ramirez hesitated, and sighed deeply, before saying "Er, yes, I did, I was in a special unit called… the US Rangers, a small elite force of some of the best fighting men available to America, though they're not as good as the SEALS or the Marines… anyway, I was part of a small group called a squad led by a Longneck named Foley, and a colleague of mine was a Swimmer named Dunn."

"Foley and Dunn, now those are odder names than Ramirez…" commented Ruby

"Dunn? You know, that's kind of a dumb name!" snapped Cera, which caused Ramirez to smile, as he figured if Dunn was here, he wouldn't be very pleased by the Threehorn's insult.

"Anyway, I've been through a lot throughout the conflict, and trust me… you don't wanna know what I've been through."

"Why, what have you been through?" the curious Swimmer asked

Ramirez hesitated before stating "I was forced to do all kinds of suicidal and near-impossible tasks by Dunn and Foley, you don't want to know what they were…"

Littlefoot says "Well, it must be REALLY far away as we've never heard anything from the Far Walkers."

Ramirez nodded and replied "Yeah… it is…"

The Longneck said "Well, tell us more about where you come from, what's it like living there?"

"Well…" Ramirez hesitated before saying "Alright, I'll tell you guys…" and he talked on and on about what the ways of life are at the place he came from, what's it like living there, and so on.

The Dinosaurs were so fascinated by this strange Threehorn and his tales of where he came from, the deadly conflict taking place there, and the appalling atrocities of Makarov.

After talking about his homeland for about two hours, the gang parted ways, Ducky and Spike joining their siblings and parents who were down at the river, Littlefoot going to the Thundering Falls to relax in the cool water, Petrie flew back to his family's nest in the cliff face of the Barrier Rocks, and Ruby decided to walk around the Valley.

When they were alone, Cera turned to Ramirez and asked him "You want to meet my parents?"

Intrigued, the former Army Ranger replied "Yeah!"

"Okay, I'll take you to go see them!"

Smiling, Ramirez said "That sounds good!"

"Great, come on!" and with that, Cera went off in the direction of her family's nest with the Male following close behind. It would be yet another step for Cera to acquire a mate at last…


	11. Meeting the Parents

**Chapter 11: Meeting the Parents**

When they got there, sure enough, Cera's father, step-mother, and little sister were at the nest, eating from nearby bushes. Cera turned to Ramirez and told him "I'm just gonna talk to my parents, stay right here in the bushes."

Groaning, Ramirez says "Yeah, whatever…"

Smiling at the younger Male's comment, Cera walked towards her parents and called out "Daddy, Tria, I need talk to you about something."

Mr. Threehorn groaned loudly, fearing it was more news about Littlfoot… or worse. Bracing for the worst, the massive Grey Male turned around to face his young daughter and he asked her "What is it this time, Cera?"

The young Female hesitates, fearing a repeat of what happened yesterday, but finally, she summons up the courage to tell him "I met a new friend…"

"Oh, good!" Tria comments "You could always need new friends, Cera! So, what's their name?"

"Uh, James Ramirez."

"James Ramirez…" the pink Threehorn muttered "That is an odd name, interesting…"

"Yeah, that's his name!"

Threehorn stopped eating and turned around to face his grownup daughter and said "HE? Cera, please tell me he's not a Threehorn."

Nodding, the young Female adult replied "Yes, he is a Threehorn"

The two Threehorn parents' eyes grew wide with utter surprise, and Topsy asked "Cera, you made a friend—with a MALE THREEHORN."

He then fainted out of sheer happiness than shock, while Tria commented "Good for you, Cera, you met someone who could someday be your mate."

The young Tricia, standing inbetween the three grownups, commented with a devious look on her face "Ooh, Cera's got a new boyfriend, hee hee!"

Cera glared at the youngster and defended herself "Ramirez's not my boyfriend"

"Whatever you say, and what kind of dopey name is Ramirez anyway?"

Cera began to growl in a low tone at her younger sister, though she was interrupted by her father, who had just came to, asking her "So, where is this Ramirez, I wish to meet him, and congratulate him for meeting my daughter."

Cera looked back at the bushes where Ramirez hid then back at her father and told him "Wait her."

She ran towards the bushes and crept into them, where she found the former Ranger hiding. She whispered to him "C'mon, I told them about you, and my dad wishes to meet you."

Ramirez stared at the massive adult Triceratops a little ways away, this physically imposing beast was obviously her dad, while the smaller more slender pink adult appeared to be her mother. He gulped at the sight of the grey behemoth, somehow, he reminded Ramirez of his own father, who was also a physically imposing figure, and he feared he had just as bad a temper too.

Turning towards the Crème Female, Ramirez replied "Oh, okay."

Smiling, Cera said "Thanks" and she leaned closely towards the younger Male's face and she nuzzled him, much to the confusion and repulsion, then after she pulled away, Cera said "C'mon! We can't let my parents wait forever!"

Sighing, Ramirez slowly walked out of the bushes, following the speedier Female towards her parents.

The two adults and one youngster waited patiently as Cera walked into the bushes, and then came back out a while later, with another Threehorn following behind. The trio stared at the stranger following Cera, he was dark green in color, was smaller than Cera, was muscular, but less so than the Crème Female leading him, and he had what looked like several scars on his body. Plus, as the two got closer, they noticed he had bright Green eyes that contrasted with his dark Green body.

As Cera neared her family she said to them "Dad, Tria, Tricia, meet James Ramirez"

Tricia looked up at the strange Male and snapped "Y'know, I think James Ramirez's a dumb name."

He frowned and told her "Thanks, Pinkie." causing Cera to snicker at his comment.

Tria said to Ramirez "So, you're Cera's new friend, eh? She could need new friends, especially after that Sharptooth Chomper left a while back."

Her stepdaughter nodded, and then she continued "Anyway, it's good to meet you for the first time, James. I'm Cera's stepmother Tria."

"Stepmother? I thought you were her actual mother!" said a surprised Ramirez

Sighing, Mr. Threehorn explained "Cera's mother died when she was only a few days old, we were on our way to the Great Valley at the time."

"Really?" asked the former Ranger "I thought you've lived here all your life, Cera"

The Crème Threehorn shook her head and told him "There was a time when we live far away from the Valley and all its peacefulness. I was born at that time, and it was only a while later that we arrived at the Valley."

Ramirez thought for a little while before he said to her in a soft tone "Wow… I- I never knew that"

The Female sighed and told him "Well, my friends, my dad, and I don't talk about that very much…"

Threehorn took a moment to think about his former mate, long dead along with most of his offspring before Ramirez asked "By the way, what's your name?"

"Well, many call me Mr. Threehorn, Tria calls me "Topsy" though it's best you don't call me that."

"Thank God, otherwise I woulda lost my lunch!" commented Ramirez

"Anyway…" Mr. Threehorn began, though he paused for a moment to let Tricia, Tria, and Cera cease their laughing spree from Ramirez's comment "My _real_ name is Topps, hence why Tria calls me Topsy."

"Oh, okay, I'll just call ya Mr. Threehorn, since I ain't your son."

The big old Triceratops thought to himself "_No, though you'll probably become my daughter's mate._"

Tria looked down at her young daughter, staring with curiosity at the strange new Threehorn, then back at him and said "And that's my daughter, Tricia."

"Really? Tricia? Aw, darn, I liked calling her 'Pinkie'!"

The two parents chuckled and Cera giggled at his comment, while all Tricia could do was glare at him, an annoyed look on the youngster's face.

"It's a nice family you have here, Cera."

"Thanks, Ramirez. By the way, do you have parents?"

The young Male looked at her and told her "I'll talk about it later…"

"Okay" the Female replied, then Tria noticed that the Sun was beginning to set. She turned to the two younger adults and said "It's getting late; the Bright Circle's starting to sink below the Barrier Rocks."

Ramirez looked at the middle-aged Female in a puzzled manner and asked "What?"

"The Great Circle, you know that great circle in the sky that's so bright!"

"Oh, you mean the, oh…"

"Well, we better get ready for bed soon." Commented Topps

"First, I, uh, gotta go stargazing with Ramirez, as a way to, you know, talk with him about stuff."

"Well, be back soon after you're done!" called out Threehorn as the two walked away

"We're going stargazing, not venturing out into the Mysterious Beyond, we'll be fine!"

The two walked off, side-by-side, their tails swaying next to each other, once in a while touching each other.

The two parents smiled at the couple walking off, Tria said "Well, there goes your daughter with someone who one day may wind up her mate."

Tops began to tear up and sniffle, causing Tricia to look at her father and ask him "Daddy, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"Because" the big Male said in between sniffles "your older sister's found a potential mate… it- it seems just yesterday she was trying to hatch out her egg…"

"Oh, don't worry, daddy, I still have a while before I grow horns above my eyes, just like you, mother, Cera, and that Jimmy Ramirez guy!"

"I know…" Tops said before hugging his youngest daughter "You're still my little girl."


	12. Evening Talk

**Chapter 12: Evening Talk**

A while later, Cera and Ramirez sat in the middle of a large grassy meadow, staring at the stars above. It was nighttime by now, and the sun had long set. The two Triceratopses talked about various things, wandering from topic to topic.

"So, Ramirez" Cera started "Tell me about your parents, what are they like?"

The smaller green Male sighed and said "They're terrible"

"Really? How much so?"

"VERY terrible, verbally abusive as hell, you don't wanna know what they say to me when I fight with them."

"Well, actually, I would probably know…" the female said, thinking about the bad argument she had with her father the other day, an argument which earlier felt like a long time ago, was now coming back into her mind. Finding Ramirez, introducing him to her friends and family, and talking to him about various things made her largely forget about that fight.

"Huh, how would _you_ know?"

"Because, I…" Cera started, staring straight into the Male's eyes "Have an abusive father too, verbally abusive, thank God, but he's still abusive."

"Really? Well, considering how your dad looked, I kinda figured he yelled, hell, the way he _looked_ scared the hell outta me!"

She smiled at his comment about her father before saying "Yeah, I had a really big fight with him yesterday, it made me feel so miserable."

"What was it about?"

Cera frowned, a rather saddened look on her face, and looked at the ground before going back to look at Ramirez's bright Green eyes, which seemed to glow in the night sky. She sighed extremely deeply before finally telling him "Remember what I told you earlier about that relationship I had with Littlefoot?"

"Yeah"

"Well, I told my dad about it, and he went crazy, he forbade me from continuing the relationship. I was _so _angry; I told him I hoped he dies at the hands of a Sharptooth."

"Oh geez"

"Yeah, I never felt so miserable in my life, I was hopeful about my relationship with Littlefoot, I thought I would die alone and loveless. I felt so horrible about myself, and then I encountered you and—"

"You felt better about yourself, I get it, you were so cheerful earlier, because you found a new friend, I get it."

Cera stared at him and it was a while before she said "Yeah, pretty much"

"So, anything else ya wanna talk about, Cera?"

"Well, I could tell you about how Littlefoot, Ducky, Spike, Petrie, and I arrived at the Great Valley."

"Okay!"

"Well, it was a _really_ long time ago, we had all only recently hatched, I guess I could start from the moment I met Littlefoot."

"Well, it was morning, I believe, and I was chasing this purple buzzer, I chased that little thing, crashing through several rocks…"

"Ow!" Ramirez cried out "Didn't it hurt?"

"I'm a Threehorn, it never fazes me. Anyway, I finally caught up with the little stinker, and just as I was about to squish it, BAM! That little bastard squirted some purple liquid all over my face."

Ramirez laughed at this before the older Female glared at him, causing him to stop, before Cera continued "Anyway, that's when I heard laughing nearby, and I saw a Longneck in some nearby grass who was laughing at my expense, it would later turn out to be Littlefoot."

"Keep going…"

"Anywho, I snapped at him "What are you laughing at?" and that's when we both decided to charge each other, running towards one another, intent upon a full head-on charge. That's when my dad intervened, jumping inbetween me and Littlefoot, he growled "Come Cera, Threehorns don't play with Longnecks."" Doing a great impression of her dad, due to the fact that she was so used to his voice, she built up a pretty realistic impression of her father.

She continued "Anyway, I snapped to Littlefoot "Threehorns don't play with Longnecks" before my dad took me by the tail, and Littlefoot's mom took him away."

"Really?" asked an intrigued Ramirez "Why don't they?"

"Well, it's simple, I was born in a world where the different kinds, the Swimmers, the Longnecks, Flyers, Spiketails, Threehorns, etc didn't do much together, instead, they pretty much kept to their own kind."

"Why? Why did they do that?"

"Well…" Cera thought, thinking of an appropriate answer "Because we're different, it's always been that." Looking at the younger Ramirez, thinking he wasn't used to the racism plaguing her world.

Unfortunately, he did, and it was obviously a side he had never expected from the Dinosaurs, it was actually something that was sadly common in his world. The Female's comment made him think of the intolerance and violence that led to genocide in Rwanda, Iraq, the Balkans, and Sudan, racial segregation in America and South Africa, and ultimately the worst, the violent racism and genocidal racial superiority policies of the Nazis. All these images he had seen in the news about these genocides and such and in history books about the segregation. What really haunted him were the pictures of the thousands of dead bodies taken at Nazi concentration camps, the images of Jews being hauled off to the Nazis' extermination camps, and the photo of a Jew about to be shot by the Nazi stormtrooper flashed through his mind. Finally, it all cleared up, and he found himself staring at a concerned Cera, his eyes watering up. She asked "Why are you crying?"

Sniffling, he told her "Nothing, something's in my eye."

"Well, it looked like you're crying about what I said about the different kinds avoiding each other." Ramirez nodded and replied "Yeah, something like that" though he thought "_Cera, you don't know how good you have it, you never had to look through pictures depicting the Holocaust or the genocides in Rwanda or Kosovo, because your kind has never been exposed to the evil and hatred my kind has been exposed to, and I hope it remains that way…_"

Cera continued on with her story "Anyway, after that, I encountered Littlfoot again chasing after a hopper…"

"What?" Ramirez interrupted

Groaning, Cera stated "A hopper, ya know, it hops."

"Not following you" then he saw a frog hopping along a little ways away from the two Reptiles, Ramirez now knew what she was talking about, she asked "MAY I continue?" a rather annoyed look on her face.

"Yeah, by all means, go."

"Okay, we chased the hopper into a pond, where we played for a little while until a huge shadow grew over us, and we saw a giant Sharptooth charging right for us." Ramirez's focus shot straight at her face as she continued on with her story "We ran away from him, getting chased into a thicket of prickly thorns, where we nearly got killed after I made the mistake of running in a different direction Littlefoot wanted us to go. That's when Littlefoot's mom showed up, protecting us from the giant Sharptooth, until she was wounded by the savage beast. Then, a giant earthshake erupted, and in the chaos, the Sharptooth, who was chasing us, fell down a canyon, and we got separated from our parents. It was then that the Shake died down, and all seemed quiet."

"What happened after that?"

"Well, Littlefoot told me after we arrived that he went searching for his mother, whom he was separated from during the Earthshake, until he eventually found her in the middle of a rainstorm. She was badly wounded, and she…."

"What?"

Cera hesitated; the memory of Littlefoot's mother's death pained her as much as it pained him, as the two had gotten extremely close ever since that day they first met. Seeing him depressed, made her feel depressed. But, she gave in and she said "She died."

"Oh"

"Yeah, Littlefoot really took it hard when she died, I dunno how long he mourned her loss, though when we encountered each other again a while later, he seemed determined to head for the Great Valley, a place his mother told him about before she died. I, having been totally unaware of his mother's death and the emotional pain he was going through, acted all snotty towards him, forcing the young Longneck to journey off on his own."

"A while later, I encountered Sharptooth again, it seemed he survived his fall into the canyon, and, through a very foolish act of mine, he chased me out of that canyon. I ran away as fast as I could from him, and eventually, I found Littlefoot again, he had now befriended a flyer and a Bigmouth. I decided to have some fun with this, and made up a wholly different encounter with the Sharptooth, where I stood up to him rather than run away. Later on, the Bigmouth, whom you would know as Ducky, encountered an egg which hatched right there, revealing a newborn Spiketail, whom she called Spike."

"We journeyed for some time, until Littlefoot and I got into a big argument over how difficult the journey was becoming, and I arrogantly wanted to head for the Valley in my own way. It was then that I said the meanest thing I have ever said; I told Littlefoot that his mother was "A stupid Longneck". Enraged, Littlefoot attacked me, and we engaged in a big fight, which, due to my superior strength, won. It was then that we separated, going our own ways to the Valley, the others followed me, because they thought my way was easier."

"Unfortunately, we passed real close to some burning mountains, and we nearly lost our lives, if it wasn't for Littlefoot who saved us at the nick of time. Later on, we encountered Sharptooth again; though this time we killed him by drowning him in a pond. Littlefoot then wandered off again, though he later called his up to the ledge he was on, and there it was, the Great Valley, we had finally arrived at the place we so strived to get to. And so, we have lived here ever since." Cera finished her story, waiting for Ramirez to respond.

For several moments, Ramirez's mouth was agape at this, her story was more incredible than his own, it made his adventure seem like a milkrun. He finally spoke up "Wow" was all he could say.

"So, anything to say about my little adventure?" Cera asked a look of pride on her face.

"Man… you acted like a _real _bitchwhen you were younger, huh?"

"What?" Cera snapped

"I'm just saying, you acted like a bit of an ass, I mean, trying to scare your friends, attacking Littlefoot, calling his dead mom a stupid Longneck, it sounds like you were a bitch back then!"

Cera snapped at him "How dare you accuse me of being a bitch, Ramirez?"

Ramirez looked at her and defended himself "I'm just saying, you were really mean to Littlefoot and your other friends."

"You think I'm a jerk?" hissed an infuriated Cera, whose face now bore a look of complete anger "How DARE you accuse me of being a snotty little bitch!" she screamed as she tipped the smaller Dark Green Male over onto his back, his large belly sticking out and pointing towards the night sky.

She glared down at his face; she saw the terrified look on his face and noticed his bright Green eyes, which glowed rather brightly in the darkness. Her face softened from a look of anger to one of sadness and she slumped face first into the ground next to him, crying, her paws covering her Emerald eyes which were now tearing up.

Ramirez was stunned by this, and he commented "Jeez, Cera, one moment you're screaming at me, and the next you're crying."

Cera got up, still tearing up, and she told him "I'm sorry, I've just been feeling really weird recently, you know? I've been moodier than I usually am, I've been feeling really dizzy, disoriented, tired, and even a little sick at times, and I've been eating like hell!"

"Really? So, you snapped at me because of mood swings or something?"

"Yeah, pretty much"

The Male thought of something she could have, she seemed to have the classic signs of it, but he dismissed it as he didn't think she would have it.

Cera finally stopped sniffling and asked Ramirez "So, James, what was _your_ adventure like, you know, during that conflict you talked about earlier?"

"Oh, right!" Ramirez replied, deciding to come up with a version of his service in the Russo-American War so as not to confuse the Female and make her feel suspicious. He finally came up with something, and began talking about his service, or at least, a version of it.

He talked for quite a while about it, how the Russians dropped Fast Runners, Fast Biters, and Sicklefoot Sharpteeth from large Flyers on American soil, how he and his squad were sent in to escort a wounded high ranking individual called "Raptor" to safety, and how they held off hordes of Russian troops before they were able to evacuate the area. He then talked about how they fought in a place called Washington, and they had to clear a towering mountain filled with caves, how they helped fend off hordes of giant Russian Sharpteeth, Spiketails, Longnecks, Threehorns, and Flyers to help the troops defending a tall rock tower called the Washington Monument evacuate people. And then he talked about how they got on giant Flyers, far bigger than any that lived in the Great Valley, and how they flew around for a little bit until their Flyers were knocked out of the sky by huge rocks flung by SAM's, giant catapults mounted on Longnecks which fired big rocks to shoot down Flyers.

After they crashed they held off a group of Russians until they retreated. After that, the remaining Rangers (including himself) made their way to an American force that was assaulting a strategically important mountain called Whiskey Hotel. After battling their way past the Russian defenders, they ran up to the top of the mountain and signaled to passing American Flyers that they had taken Whiskey Hotel. Soon after that, he wound up in the Valley.

After hearing his story, Cera commented "Wow, I am very impressed; your adventure was just as great as mine."

"Thank you" Ramirez said, smiling at the Female's compliment.

Cera then asked "May I tell you about how Littlefoot and I fell in love?"

"You may" the Green Male told her, wanting to know how it began.

"Well, it had only lasted a year, and it was rather short-lived. But during that time, we were so close together, I just, well… Anyway, it all began when Littlefoot's grandparents died, first his grandpa, and then his grandma. He took it really hard when they died, they had taken him in after we arrived, and they were seemingly the only family he had left in the wake of his mother's death, and had known them for so long."

"That's terrible!"

"Yes, it was, anyway, he mourned their loss for about a week, that was when I decided to talk to him about it. We talked about various things, until finally Littlefoot revealed that the deaths of his grandparents had made him fear that he was doomed to die alone, I told him that I feared the same thing too, and that there wasn't any other Longnecks or Threehorns our age living in the Valley. So, one thing led to another, and I told Littlefoot I loved him and he said he loved me. So, that's when our relationship started, it's my first relationship and my first experience with true love. My love for Littlefoot was absolute, I thought I would be with him forev-"

"UGH! Yuck, man, gross!"

Cera turned to the smaller Male and saw that his face was turning a darker Green than it was already, his tongue was sticking out, and he had a look of sickness on his face. Cera raised an eyebrow and asked in a slightly annoyed tone "What's the matter with YOU?"

"Ugh, it's just all that mushy crud you said made me feel sick to my stomach!"

"Ramirez!" Cera said in a half-annoyed, half-amused tone

"What?"

"Can we talk about something else?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Well…" Cera began saying as she thought of something to say, before she finally decided upon what to say, she asked "Ramirez?"

"Yeah, Cera?" the Green Male Threehorn replied as he stared up at the stars above him.

She sighed and told him "I have a confession to make…"

"What's that?" Ramirez asked as he looked directly into the larger Female's face. Cera leaned closer towards Ramirez's head and whispered three words that will change the two Dinosaurs' lives forever…

"I love you"

The smaller Male's eyes widened with utter surprise, and he asked in a soft but shocked tone "What?"

"I love you" Cera replied smiling at him, she asked "Do you love _me_?"

"Uh… I don't know..."

A look of sadness began to form on the Female's face, and as her eyes teared up, she asked "You mean, you don't like me?"

She began to sob quietly, though Ramirez ran to her side and cooed "No, I do like you Cera; you're probably the only girl I have ever gotten to know really well, it's just…"

"It's just what?" Cera asked, staring right at him, her Emerald eyes glowed rather brightly in the night sky, especially with the shining light of the twinkling stars and the moon that glowed like an enormous orb. Ramirez felt a huge urge to kiss her right then, though he suppressed it, and decided to say something: "It's just that…" he looks at her nervously, Cera smiled, knowing that he was obviously resisting the urge to kiss her.

She decided to lean over towards his face and nuzzled him on the side of his head. She then said to him again "I love you, James Ramirez."

Ramirez looked her right in the eye and he suddenly said "I love you too, Cera". He was shocked by this slip of tongue, and in his mind he thought "_Oh, shi_-"

Cera smiled a very big smile and she walked closer to him, and she planted her lips right onto his own. Caught off by the kiss, Ramirez wanted to throw it off, but he did not do so, and instead let Cera pull off on her own. Finally, she did so, and the two just stood there staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity. In Ramirez's head, he was going through quite a personal battle, on one hand Cera was his friend and he had only just met her, but on the other she was a real cutie and he personally how attractive she would've looked if she was a Human.

Finally, Ramirez broke the silence by saying "Wow that was unexpected."

Nodding, Cera said softly "Yeah, it's kinda nice having a relationship again."

Then, a loud Male voice cried out in the distance "Cera! Come back, it's time for bed!"

The young Female, knowing who was calling her, shouted back "I'll be there soon, daddy!" she then turned back to Ramirez and asked him "You wanna come with me back to my nest?"

He replied "Nah, I don't think it would be okay if I stayed over at your nest."

She smiled and whispered "You scardie egg, you're afraid of my dad what I told you!"

"I'm not scared of your old man! I'm just too tired to venture all the way back to your nest." Ramirez snapped, he then hit the ground and fell to sleep.

Cera whispered "Alright, call it what you like, Scardy egg!" she then began walking off before turning around to see the younger Male shivering in the cold, she walked back and whispered "Ramirez… Ramirez, wake up!"

The Green Threehorn woke up and asked "What is it? Wadda you want now?"

"Come with me to my nest, you can stay there?"

"Why?"

"I just don't want to see you cold and all alone, all by yourself like Littlefoot. Look how miserable he is, all alone with no one to love."

Ramirez looked at her in a concerned way and asked "You really care about me, don't you?"

She looked at him and nodded, Ramirez got up and he followed her as she walked back to her nest. When they got there, Cera walked up to her usual sleeping spot and slumped to the ground asleep, while Ramirez did the same right next to her. What the two didn't notice was that Tops was secretly watching the two of them snuggle up next to each other. He smiled and chuckled a little bit then went back to sleep, knowing that Cera had at long last acquired a mate that was perfect for her.


	13. His Own Accord

**Chapter 13: His Own Accord**

**Note that this and the next few chapters will take place in a large dream that Ramirez has during the night. And sorry for me taking so long, I was kinda worried about how this and the next few chapters would be received, but oh well.

* * *

**

Ramirez found himself in the interior of a massive building, which he recognized as the Department of Commerce. He looked around, rather than being surrounded by Dinosaurs, he was surrounded by fellow Army Rangers, he then check himself. He was no longer James Ramirez the Threehorn; he was Private James Ramirez the Army Ranger again.

Suddenly, he heard the familiar Southern-accented voice of Overlord over the radio crackle "Hunter Two-One, you've bought the Evac site valuable time! Well done! Now get your ass to the roof ASAP… you're in danger of being overrun!"

Then, yet another familiar voice called out "Roger that, we're heading to the rooftop, everyone move out!" he noticed a tall African-American which he instantly recognized as his commander Sergeant Foley.

He, Foley, and various other Rangers ran out of the room they were in, and a little ways down the hall, two rangers had managed to blast down a set of double doors, allowing everyone to go through. The Rangers ran up several flights of stairs, while battling several groups of Russian troops along the way.

Foley barked while everyone was running up the stairs "Get to the roof and RV with the SEAL team! Move! Move!"

Finally, the group got to the outside balcony and continued running for the roof. At last, after some exhausting climbing sprees, they had reached the roof, where they saw the Little Birds carrying the Navy SEALS and the Blackhawk that was to carry them.

Once the UH-60 touched the ground, and it was then that Foley screamed "We're out of time! Go!" As Foley saw the helicopter land, he called over the radio "Overlord, we've linked with the SEALS on the rooftop and are heading out. Interrogative – has the Washington Monument site been evacuated, over?"

While Foley was calling out to Overlord, Ramirez manned the Minigun mounted on the side of the aircraft. Just then, an MI-28 popped up, intent on attacking the Rangers and SEALS who were exposed on the roof. However, a Ranger armed with a Stinger man portable anti-air missile launcher, who was hiding behind an air duct, jumped out of his cover and launched the missile, knocking the vehicle out of the air.

It was then that the chopper took off the building, then a voice called out "Hunter, this is Dagger Two-One. We are in position at the LZ on the rooftop, what's your status?"

Overlord's voice called out again "Negative Two-One, they're still pinned down by infantry and light armor from the World War 2 Memorial, doesn't look good from here, over!"

Foley replied "Copy Overlord, we'll do what we can from the air, out."

The helicopters flew around the Washington Monument and headed for the World War 2 Memorial, encountering a barrage of missiles, some of which take out one of the Little Birds carrying the SEALS, sending the helicopter and its occupants flying towards the ground.

Foley cried out over the radio "Overlord, Dagger Two-Two is hit and going down!"

Finally, the helicopters flew over the Memorial, where a ton of Russian troops were massing, and an MI-28 chopper was hovering only a few feet above the center of the Memorial. Upon seeing the Russians, Ramirez opened up with the Minigun at the enemy troops, and managed to destroy the chopper before it could rise up to become a problem for them.

The pilot of Dagger Two-One called out "RPG teams at the World War Two Memorial… pull that trigger till they don't get up."

Ramirez fired the gun at the RPG teams that were all over the Memorial like cockroaches, taking most of them out. While Ramirez was firing away with the rotary cannon, people were screaming like crazy over the radio, he didn't catch most of it, because he was too pumped full of adrenaline to notice.

Finally, the helicopter, now all by itself, flew away from the Memorial and flew over the road; Russian soldiers were darting behind cars on the road.

A man screamed over the radio "Dagger Two, the Washington Monument is taking fire from the main road!"

Ramirez opened up with the gun, laying waste to the soldiers and the cars on the road, blowing them to pieces.

Overlord called out again "Overlord to all units, Evacuation Order April, I repeat, Evacuation Order April, everyone get the hell out of there!"

All of a sudden, a series of missiles slammed into the Blackhawk, the helicopter swerved in the direction of the giant building nearby and Foley called out again "Overlord, we're hit, but still in the air. We've got a massive SAM battery at the Department of Justice… we're going in!"

The helicopter flew past the building, as Ramirez fired the Minigun at snipers and RPG teams in the windows. Then the pilot shouted something and Foley screamed to him "Take us up, if we're going down we're taking those SAM sites with us!"

The chopper flew over the roof, where Ramirez saw several SAM launchers aiming straight for the Blackhawk; Ramirez managed to destroy most of them with the rotary cannon, but then suddenly, he noticed a rocket streak right towards the aircraft, slamming into the black vehicle, causing it to be thrown into a violent spin as it headed straight for the ground.

The pilot hollered "We're hit! Mayday mayday, this is Dagger Two-One. We are going down at grid square Papa Bravo, 2…"

It was then that the Blackhawk slammed into the ground and Ramirez blacked out. When he came to a while later, he saw that he was inside the interior of the helicopter, and noticed Corporal Dunn, with his distinctive Delta Force-style helmet and night vision goggles, Sergeant Foley, and various other Rangers crouching in front of a wall, firing at Russian troops that were attacking them.

He overheard Dunn call out "Sandler, target two o'clock!"

He overheard people shout various things, though he was too dizzy and disoriented from the crash to pay attention.

Finally, one Ranger, Pvt. Wade, ran up to him, handed Ramirez an M4 carbine, and told him "Take this and stay down!" then all of a sudden, he got shot in the head and fell to the ground. Much to Ramirez's surprise, then Foley called out "Wade's down!"

The Hispanic Private raised the carbine and fired several bursts at the Russians, while an unknown Ranger shouted "McCord, reloading, cover me!"

"McCord covering!" McCord replied, firing his SCAR at the enemy.

Just then, several MIGs flew over them, causing Ramirez and the other Rangers to duck as the enemy fighters flew close to the ground.

Finally, someone shouted "Last mag!"

Then Foley called out "Ramirez, last mag, make it count!" tossing the Private an M4 magazine, which he caught in his hand, ripped off the old one, put the one Foley gave him in the first one's place, and reloaded the weapon.

"Sarge, there's too many of them!"

People continued shouting, though the Russians began to pull back. Dunn finally stood up saying, "Right sir, three rounds left!"

Suddenly, he got shot and slumped to the ground, Foley grabbed him and shouted "Corporal, hang on!"

"Oh shit" Dunn muttered as he was being dragged to cover behind the wall. Once he thought the Corporal was safe from enemy fire, Foley stood up and shouted "Defend this position!"

Suddenly, Ramirez, whose M4 had ran out of ammunition, noticed an MI-28 hovering nearby and had a spotlight on, which it shone on him, causing the Private to raise his hands over his head in terror certain that he and his colleagues were doomed for sure. That was when the light finally blinded Ramirez's vision.


	14. Lost In Time

**Chapter 14: Lost In Time**

When Ramirez's vision cleared, he realized that the Blackhawk, Foley, Dunn, the Russians, and the other Rangers were gone. The scenery of a wartorn Washington D.C. was replaced by a huge amount of trees surrounding him as far as he could see, all of whom were bare and devoid of any leaves, the ground was dry and hard rather than lush and green back at D.C, and he could noticed cracks on the ground. He raised his hands in front of his face, he was still human, and the gloves he was wearing were as torn and ragged as they were back at the crash site. He looked around, and noticed an M4 with what looked like red dot and forward grip attachments on the weapon, there was a magazine in it. He checked the gun and inspected the mag, it was full so he popped it back in and reloaded the carbine.

He got up, clutching the M4, asking himself "Where the hell am I?"

He checked his ammo supply, it was full. He decided to check this area out, he looked up at the sky, it was nighttime, though the sun was beginning to rise. He walked off, he could tell that the area he was in now was enduring some kind of drought, though where he was exactly he did not know. Wherever he was, he was definitely nowhere near Washington.

Finally, after some time of walking, he came across a large rock formation and he could faintly hear children's voices coming from the formation. He headed straight for the formation, intent upon finding the children and ask them where he was. Finally, he got close to the source of the voices, he peeped his head over a rock so he can see these kids real close so he could get a better idea of where he was. However, what he saw shocked him, as there were two individuals, obviously very young, but they weren't Human. They were both quadruped creatures, both with different looks and skin colors, one was a Purplish-Tannish hue with a long neck and eyes that appeared to be a distinctive red color, and the other was of an Orange-Cremish color, had a frill on the back of her head, a large horn on her nose, and appeared to have Emerald eyes.

Ramirez's jaw dropped, he couldn't believe it, these two were Dinosaurs, the Purplish-Tannish one an Apatosaurus, the other a Triceratops. He really couldn't believe this, first he was in D.C., then in the Age of the Dinosaurs, then D.C., and now back in the Mesozoic. He stared at the two; there was something oddly familiar about them, though what he did not know. Finally, the two jumped after a frog and slid down a gentle slope into a muddy pond below. The Ranger ran after them, though at the same time was trying to keep a low profile to prevent them from seeing him.

Finally, he got down the slope, and hid behind a rock, from which he could see the two playing in the mud, chasing after frogs and laughing excitedly. It warmed his heart to see these creatures at play, not worrying about the troubles of the world around them. He thought back to his Saurian friends back in the Valley.

However, Ramirez was so busy staring at the playing youngsters that he failed to spot an ominous shadow enveloping the two young Dinos. Until that is, he felt loud rumbling, and then noticed the shadow had by now covered the two, he looked up to see what it was that was causing the shadow and to his ultimate horror saw a massive olive-brown colored Tyrannosaurus charging straight for the youngsters!

The two ran for some nearby bushes, and the Tyrannosaurus pursued, searching and sniffing for them. Ramirez ran for the bushes, intent upon helping the youngsters out. That's when he heard the Male scream "No! You're going the wrong way!"

He bolted out of the bushes to see the massive carnivore diving after the two into another thicket; he could barely make out the Sauropod caught in some vines, until he managed to break loose, causing the vines snap right at the monster's face, causing him to rear up. Ramirez ran around the bush to see the two getting attacked by the T-Rex, then suddenly a massive tail knocked the beast into a nearby rock formation. He whipped his head around to see an immense adult Apatosaurus apparently helping the two; he then noticed the predator getting up. While this was happening, he could distinctly hear the young Sauropod call out to the adult "Mother?"

The massive plant eater cried out "Littlefoot, run! Run!"

Something clicked inside Ramirez's head; he realized that THIS young Apatosaurus was none other than his friend Littlefoot, when he was younger at least. He then remembered the story Cera told him about when she, Littlefoot, and their friends journeyed to the Great Valley.

He twisted his head around to see the Tyrannosaurus charging towards the two Sauropods. He looked back at them and screamed "Shit! Behind you!" pointing towards the charging carnivore.

The two youngsters ran away as fast as they could, while Littlefoot's mother engaged the monster in battle. Noting that the giant carnivore had its back pointing towards him, Ramirez crept up to the right leg of the monster, and he whipped out his knife and snarled "Take _this_ you scaly son of a bitch!" and he plunged the blade right in the back of the Tyrannosarus's leg. He then pulled it out, the monster was shrieking in sheer pain.

This caused the predatory Dinosaur to turn around and slam Ramirez with his giant head, sending the Ranger flying. The beast stood over the Ranger on the ground, ready to gobble him up when BAM, he was sent flying by another blow from Littlefoot's mother. Ramirez took cover behind some rocks and witnessed the two of them fight. Littlefoot's mother knocked the massive beast down a third time with her tail, though he quickly recovered and performed one of the most amazing stunts Ramirez had ever seen. The scaly titan leaped with great force onto Littlefoot's mother's back and began ripping huge chunks of flesh off of her. This amazed the young Private, he never knew Tyrannosauruses were capable of performing such incredible feats, he had read about Allosauruses leaping onto Sauropods, but never a T-Rex, he always thought they were just too massive to do this. He wondered if this beast was somehow superhuman, or in this case, superdino.

Finally, Littlefoot's mother knocked the carnivore off of her and sent him flying to the ground. He cheered, thinking the immense carnivore was defeated; however, he suddenly felt the ground shake intensely. "Oh shit, earthquake!" he said to himself.

The Dinosaurs panicked at this, the two youngsters ran for their lives, with Ramriez close behind. Littlefoot looked up to see in horror his mother standing on a cliff that was falling apart, then Ramirez noticed the carnivore getting up and heading right for them "Crap! Run!" he shouted. The three did so, as the vicious predator began catching up to them, Ramirez managed to fire a burst with his M4 carbine, though it had little effect.

The three continued running, though now Cera and Littlefoot were standing on top of the carnivore's two feet, while Ramirez was trying to pick up his pace. Suddenly, the ground they were on shifted and tilted, and the three Dinosaurs (and one panicked Human) found themselves hanging from the cliff, Cera, Littlefoot, and Ramirez clung on to the monster's tail, until finally Littlefoot's mother swatted the beast one last time, while she grabbed the youngsters by the tail, and Ramirez by the back end of his shirt, much to his annoyance. The three witnessed the giant fall to his seeming doom in the dark canyon below. Ramirez thought "_That's the last we'll be seeing of that SOB._"

When the giant Sauropod set them down, Littlefoot, Cera, and Ramirez ran away in different direction, panicked by the immense earthquake. Ramirez climbed onto a big rock to look around, he was amazed by the amount of devastation this one earthquake was causing, and he saw the land being split, literally, in two. The earthquake caused Ramirez to fall off the rock and had him literally clinging for dear life, though remembering the training he had to go through to get into the Rangers; he quickly managed to get up. Finally, the cataclysm subsided and he heard a distant Male voice cry out "Cera!"

He then heard a now familiar Female voice respond "Momma! Daddy!" he could make out a tiny shape near the edge of a cliff that was dwarfed by a towering cliff, he figured this tiny shape was Cera, and what she had told him before about her getting separated from her parents now made sense to him. He watched as the large black shapes on the edge of the other cliff, undoubtedly the young Triceratops's parents walked away and the young herbivore walked stood there, seemingly crying before walking away, unsure of what to do.

Ramirez then looked around, he decided it was time to move on; it wasn't safe here now with the herds divided. And so, he walked away, though he took one last look at the cliffs that seemed to tower over him before walking away.


	15. Witness of a Tragedy

**Chapter 15: Witness of a Tragedy**

Several hours later, Ramirez was still wandering around, still unsure of where he was going. By this time, it was night, and it was beginning to rain, it reminded him of the monsoon he had to go through before getting to Whiskey Hotel, though it wasn't as bad as that relentless downpour.

He was venturing through a rocky landscape, unsure of where to go, that is, until he heard the faint but familiar voice of young Littlefoot calling out "Mother!" He realized that Littlefoot had somehow gotten separated from his mother during the earthquake.

He climbed up a nearby rock formation and sure enough, saw the young Apatosaurus run up to a much larger Sauropod, undoubtedly his mother. He managed to overhear the youngster say to his mother "Please get up."

He then her respond "I- I'm not sure I can, Littlefoot."

"Yes, you can, get up!"

Ramirez noticed that the immense adult was lying on her belly, on a piece of rock that stuck up from the ground.

He noticed the huge wound on her back, undoubtedly the one inflicted by the T-Rex during the earlier attack. The huge adult attempted to get up, though she only collapsed, crushing the rock she was lying on and causing her head to hit the ground only inches from the young Apatosaurus.

She asked "Dear Littlefoot, do you know the way to the Great Valley?"

Littlefoot nodded and asked "But why do I have to know, you'll be with me!"

"I'll be with you, even if you can't see me..."

Ramirez's eyes watered up through the rainstorm, the sad moment was making the tough Army Ranger who kept his feelings bottled up for the most part cry which meant it was a pretty sad moment.

A saddened Littlefoot spoke up "What do you mean if I can't see you, I can always see you!"

Finally, the adult replied "Littlefoot, let your heart guide you. It whispers, so listen closely."

Then, silence, and the youngster cried out "Mother? Mother?"

He then cried for a short while, during which the downpour finally ended, and he started to walk away from the body of his mother, when he noticed something and stared off at Ramirez's direction. All he could see in the darkness was a tall bipedal tailess figure standing on the nearby rock cliff, clutching a weird stick in his right hand. Ramirez walked off, disappearing from the Longneck's view, after which he continued walking away from his mother's lifeless body. Ramirez walked back up the hill and sure enough the youngster was gone, so he ventured down the cliff and walked up to the body of the enormous Dinosaur and touched her side.

He started tearing up even worse then he did before and then he did a rather unexpected thing: He clasped his hands together and prayed, for Littlefoot's safety. This was a rather weird move for him as he was never a religious guy, the consequence of being raised in a rather non-religious Hispanic family.

Once he was done, he walked away, taking one last look at the body that only a while before belonged to a dinosaur that saved his life and those of the young Littlefoot and Cera. He then faced away from the lifeless corpse and continued on walking, still unsure of where to go in the vast wilderness.


	16. Reunion in the Forest

**Chapter 16: Reunion in the Forest**

It had been several days since Ramirez had left the lifeless body of Littlefoot's mother, and now the Army Ranger was lost in a large forest, unsure of where to go next. The memories of seeing Littlefoot's mother die before him and of the Tyrannosaurus attack continue to haunt him, though he tries not to think about it.

He sat down, his feet ached from walking around all day, and he was exhausted from all the walking he had done. He took off his boots and rubbed his feet, commented "Damn, my feet feel like they're ready to fall off! Where can I go? I don't even know what my destination IN this shithole is!"

After putting his boots back on, he rubbed his forehead, unsure of what to do. Then, he heard children giggling nearby; he looked around, stood up, and decided to look around for the source of the voice.

Eventually, he found it, in the form of several Dinosaurs, two of which he recognized as Littlefoot and Cera, their young versions anyways. There were several others he didn't recognize, a tiny brown bird-like creature with leathery wings like that of a bat, a green creature similar in size with a weird bump on the back of its head and a Duck-like bill, and a large dark Green animal that was similar in size to Cera and Littlefoot with Purple eyes and several bumps on the back of his tail.

The tiny green one asked "Littlefoot, when do we _get_ to the Great Valley, I'm tired."

"You're tired?" Cera snapped "It's only been a couple hours, NOW you're tired?"

"Well, you know how all that walking would affect a little Big Mouth like me!" the Green creature replied then she giggled.

She then looked in Ramirez's direction, forcing him to duck behind the tree, M4 at the ready.

"Hey, what was THAT?" asked the creature

"What was what?" Cera replied

"I thought I saw a weird thing behind that tree, I did, I did!"

Finally, the little Green walked around the tree and saw Ramirez, the two stared at each other, before she screamed a very high pitched shriek, causing him to fall over, accidentally firing a burst with his M4. The creature ran back to the others and told them "I saw something behind that tree, I did, I did!"

A weak young voice replied "Me no want to see thing behind tree!"

"Calm down, everyone, let's just meet this _thing_ face to face!"

Ramirez, who had by now got up, smiled in silent joy at this, maybe he could accompany them to the Great Valley.

Finally, the Dinosaurs walked up to the tree and looked up at Ramirez, the three others hid in pure terror while Cera and Littlefoot stood there, staring at the Ranger they had met before.

"You" Littlefoot said softly, his eyes wide with utter surprise; he had never expected to see the strange creature he encountered before to show up again.

"What do _you_ want?" Cera snapped in an annoyed tone, Ramirez sighed, he forgot that Cera was a real brat when she was younger.

"What's your name?" the Apatosaurus asked

Ramirez pondered whether he should reveal his name or not, but assuming that since this was a dream they weren't aware of any Threehorn named James Ramirez.

He said "Private James Ramirez, 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, United States Army, at your service."

Littlefoot looked at Cera then back at Ramirez and said "James Ramirez, your name sounds familiar; I think I've heard it somewhere."

Confused by this, the Ranger replied "No, you haven't."

"Yes, I have"

"No, you have-"

"Okay, that's enough!" snapped Cera "It's obvious that we've somehow heard this guy's name before, let's just introduce ourselves."

She turned back to Ramirez and tells him "My name's Cera!"

"I'm Littlefoot!" the young Apatosaurus said

"My name's Ducky, yup, yup, yup!" the Green creature replied

"My name Petrie!" the Pterosaur said

Cera motioned towards the big creature and said "And that's Spike!"

Ramirez looked over these youngsters and said "Hi, pleasure to meet you all. So, where you all goin'?"

"To the Great Valley, we're not stopping till we find our parents."

Smiling, the battle hardened Ranger replied "Well, good luck with that."

"Hey Ramirez" Cera asked "Where are YOU going?"

He sighed and promptly told the Triceratops "I don't know, I've been wandering around aimlessly for days, I don't know how to get back to where I came from."

"Why don't you come with us, maybe you'll find out a way when we get there?" Littlefoot asked

"You mean that?"

"Sure!" Cera replied "Besides, your shiny sticks and everything could help us along the way, maybe keep Sharptooth at bay."

Littlefoot glared at her and snapped "Cera, for the last time, Sharptooth is dead!"

"Whatever" the Threehorn said, rolling her eyes in a half annoyed, half spoiled attitude

Ramirez frowned; Cera definitely WAS a brat when she was a child.

Finally, the group walked off, Ramirez grabbed his carbine and joined them. The 5 hungry Dinosaurs and one tired Ranger continued their quest to the Great Valley, soon to meet multiple dangers along the way.


	17. Foraging for Food and Water

**Chapter 17: Foraging for Food and Water**

Several hours after Ramirez reunited with Littlefoot and Cera, the group came upon a waterfall, the forest where they had set out for the Valley long behind them. Littlefoot and the others were staring at the river of water flowing past them, while Ramirez was looking around, keeping an eye out for hostiles of any kind.

Littlefoot finally spoke up "Green food grows where there's lots of water. If we follow this water…"

Petrie, who was standing on Littlefoot, looked down at the river and commented "Hmph, no green foods here, and I'm still hungry."

Then, the young Apatosaurus sniffed the air and commented "Hey, you smell that?"

Petrie sniffed too and he said "I smell… I smell… I smell… hm, Ducky."

Ducky looked at the young Flyer and asked "You smell me?" and then she giggled at his comment.

Ramirez sniffed several times and commented "I don't smell anything… wait, I smell…" he sniffed a little more than grimaced and said "Jeez Cera, the hell did you eat earlier, a bean burrito?"

"What?" the Threehorn asked looking up at him "What are you talking about, what's a bean burrito?"

"It's a food that we have where I come from."

Sniffing, the Triceratops replied "Well, you must've had one yourself, as YOU stink!"

Ramirez sniffed his right arm and grimaced, realizing what she meant "Oh man, that's not a burrito's work, that's my underarm! Course, I've been stuck out here for days and I haven't put on deodorant in a while, so I guess I smell like a sweaty cow on a hot July day!" laughing from his comment.

He then walked by Ducky and noticed a foul odor coming from the tiny Hardosaur, he snapped "Oh, Ducky, what the crap is that smell comin' from ya?"

The Duck-Billed Dinosaur sniffed herself and was immediately repulsed by her smell "Ooh man, I _do_ stink, I do, I do!"

Littlefoot wandered away from the group, ignoring their conversation about odors, he smelled the air, and the others caught up with him after they finished the conversation. After an extended period of sniffling, Littlefoot exclaimed "I smell… TREESTARS!"

He then looked across a small ravine and the others looked in the direction the young Longneck was staring at, and they saw a giant hole in a cliffside and in the middle stood a large cluster of trees located in a valley below.

Elated, the group headed towards the edge and Littlefoot jumped across (it wasn't a very wide ravine), then Cera, then Spike, carrying Petrie and Ducky on his back, and finally, it was Ramirez's turn. He took a few steps back then ran full speed towards the edge and jumped, though his jump was too short to make it and he clutched the edge of the other cliff. The heavy weight of his gear prevented him from managing to climb up, though Littlefoot looked over the edge and called out "Ramirez! Grab onto my tail!"

The Ranger, though a little annoyed by the fact that the Longneck's statement reminded him of the commands barked by his CO Sergeant Foley, did so, grabbing his tail with his left hand.

Cera then cried out "Grab my horn with your other hand, Ramirez!"

The Private did so, grabbing the tip of the Triceratops' horn with his right hand, that's when Littlefoot screamed "Pull!" and the two young Dinosaurs moved back from the ledge, slowly pulling the Human Ranger out. The two youngsters struggled to pull Ramirez back up, their youthful muscles, only a few days old, bulged, rippled, and expanded as for the first time they struggled to pull a heavy load. Their tiny skinny bodies would eventually be replaced by the more muscular physiques they would have as adults.

Now, though, their struggle paid off, as soon they pulled Ramirez out of his literal cliffhanger and back onto firm ground.

Panting heavily, Ramirez commented "Damn, now THAT'S what I call a Cliffhanger!" causing the Dinosaurs to chuckle.

After this, Cera and Littlefoot wandered off towards the giant hole and Cera proclaimed "Oh look, the Great Valley!"

The other Dinosaurs and Ramirez ran over to the hole, and they were elated to see what they thought was the Great Valley, though Ramirez was skeptical. Cera and Littlefoot began arguing because Cera arrogantly proclaimed she had found the Valley, which Littlefoot responded to by telling her to stop it, while Ramirez tried to tell the others that it wasn't the Valley. Cera ended the argument by giggling and smiling a big toothy grin, causing Ramirez to smile.

Then suddenly, the group felt rumbling and they looked behind, Cera shouted "Earthshake!"

"Aw crap!" Ramirez exclaimed

"We've got to get outta here!"

The Dinosaurs struggled to get over the rock wall and down the slope, though it took them some time. When the Dinosaurs (and Ramirez) looked up, they immediately got down, and it was then that the rock wall was smashed to bits, revealing a small herd of huge Apatosauruses that ran desperately towards the tree grove. When the group looked up again, they saw the Sauropods hungrily eating the leaves of the trees.

Cera glared and she snapped "They're eating our food! Look at what they're doing, they're so greedy! What about me, I'm still hungry!"

Ramirez commented "Well, they're probably VERY hungry, and considering that there isn't a plant for miles, I don't blame them."

Petrie whined and complained and finished his rant with a whiny "We be hungry forever!"

Littlefoot told him "Oh, Petrie, Cera's wrong, this isn't the great valley."

Ramirez rolled his eyes and scoffed "Pft, NOW ya figure it out, Lima Foxtrot?"

"Huh?"

Ducky commented "Oh, it isn't a great anything now, nope, nope, nope!" looking at the grove down below, the trees now bare as the Apatosaurus herd journeyed away from their handiwork.

"Well, guess we're gonna have to go down and see what's left."

"Copy, Sarge! Roger Wilco, out!" Ramirez snapped, before climbing down the slope, to which Littlefoot asked "What?"

The Private looked back at the young Sauropod and told him "Oh, Army talk, sorry!" before continuing his trek downhill, while the Dinosaurs started their climb down the slope.


	18. Under the Trees

**Chapter 18: Under the Trees  
**

As the group climbed down the slope, Ramirez began to loudly hum a tune from one of his favorite games for the Playstation, Medal of Honor (he also adored Spyro and Dino Crisis 2, ironically a game involving shooting Dinosaurs). The song in question was called "Merker's Salt Mine", and it played during a series of levels where he had to save a huge collection of various artworks from throughout Nazi occupied Europe from destruction at the hands of Nazi SS engineers.

His loud humming greatly annoyed Cera while it intrigued the others, wondering what he was doing. Even as they had climbed down and were approaching the tree grove, he continued to hum the tune, which continued to drive Cera crazy until she finally screamed "RAMIREZ! STOP WITH THAT HORRIBLE HUMMING, IT'S DRIVING ME NUTS!"

"Cera!" Littlefoot snapped to the Threehorn

"Well, it's true!" the female snottily replied

"Oh screw you AND your frikkin' bratty opinions! I can hum tunes whenever I want!" Ramirez said to the Triceratops and he promptly stuck his tongue out in defiance and continued humming the song. Finally, he stopped and Cera called out "FINALLY!"

But, the Ranger called out "And now, "Securing the Codebook"!" and began humming the tune to it, it drove the young Triceratops even crazier than with the other song due to the fact that he was elevating tune pitch.

Littlefoot finally told Ramirez "Ramirez, could you at least stop humming? You're driving Cera crazy."

"Why? Why would I do so? In fact, I don't care about her stupid little opinions!" the comment caused Cera to growl menacingly at the Human. Unfazed, the Ranger kept on humming, this time, the pitch of his tune increased until he suddenly shouted, humming the part of the song that referenced the Nazi theme "Du du du, du du du, du du du du du duuuu!"

"Ramirez!"

"Wait, I'm no done yet!" and he continued to hum, beginning softly and then the pitch grew louder and louder until he was shout-humming again, if any of his buddies were there, they would comment on how good he was at imitating the tunes and that they sounded so much like the real thing. Alas, no other Rangers were there, just four young Dinosaurs and one very bratty Triceratops who couldn't stand his humming talents.

Finally, he was done, and Littlefoot told him "Good, now don't hum anymore!"

"Why? So as to keep your little girlfriend happy?"

"What? Cera's not my girlfriend!"

"Heh heh, right!" the Ranger replied, patting the young Sauropod on the head.

After that, the group continued on their way through the tree grove, until they came upon a tree that was shorter than the others around it. The Dinosaurs were trying to convince Petrie, who was aerophobic, to try and fly, though the little Pterosaur resisted. Meanwhile, Ramirez was quietly humming the theme to Medal of Honor: Frontline, though Cera could hear it and it annoyed her, but she kept her mouth shut.

Littlefoot, Spike, Petrie, and Ducky formed a living tower to grab some leaves that were way off the ground. All the while, Cera was laughing at her friends, commented "You look SO ridiculous!"

Ramirez, interrupted in the middle of his humming the theme of SOCOM, muttered softly "Bitch" watching the young Triceratops laugh at her friends with great annoyance. Finally, the tower collapsed and Littlefoot fell to the ground atop Spike, while Petrie and Ducky clung to a branch. Thanks to their efforts, a huge amount of leaves fell off and floated to the ground. Elated at their work, Ducky gave Petrie a quick smooch on the side of his beak before falling off to the leaf pile below, giggling all the way. Petrie finally fell off the branch, though due to his wings, he floated to the ground.

Satisfied with what they had done, the Dinosaurs began gobbling up the leaves, Littlefoot said to Ramirez "Hey Ramirez, ya want eat some Tree Stars, they're really good!"

Shaking his head, the 21 year old replied "No thanks, I have my rations!" whipping out a little brown bag-like case.

"Oh, okay!" the Longneck replied before walking away, while the Ranger began eating his rations.

Littlefoot looked at the Threehorn and tried to convince her to eat with them, though she arrogantly snapped that she would get Tree Stars on her own. She then rammed a nearby tree several times, while Littlefoot grabbed a mouthful of leaves and threw them over the female, causing her to smile in triumph and proclaim "See?" causing the Longneck to roll his eyes. Unknown to the two youngsters, Ramirez was staring at them, he could hardly believe these two bickering kids were the two adults he encountered as a Triceratops, he continued eating, reflecting on the irony here.

Finally, Cera, after eating her fill, walked over to a little spot away from the grove and settled down. An evil grin overtook her face and she tauntingly said that she hoped Sharptooth (the terrifying beast that killed Littlefoot's mother) doesn't come along and eat the others, causing Ducky, Spike, and Petrie to quiver with fear while the Longneck scoffed, while Ramirez privately checked his weapons to make sure they were in good condition, which they were, "No dirt clogs so far" he said to himself, looking at the Dinosaurs as the three terrified youngsters went to sleep with Cera while Littlefoot wandered all by himself.

Watching three go to sleep next to Cera, he couldn't help but smile and think to himself "_Now that's what I call a threesome!_"

Yawning, he stood up and stretched his long thing arms and decided it was time for sleep. He decided to sleep next to Cera and the others because he felt there was safety in numbers in case some predator came by. He walked up to the sleeping four and lied down, his head resting atop Spike's back, using the Stegosaurus's bulk as a pillow. He placed his M4 aside next to him and he gripped his M9 (with the safety on) in his right hand and closed his eyes.

Littlefoot, looking at the three Dinosaurs, single Pterosaur, and the long Human sound asleep, muttered sadly "There's no Sharptooth" and dragged his giant leaf into a large footprint of a Therapod and lied down.

A while later, Ducky, tired of the loud snoring of Spike and Cera and the horrible screeching sound of Petrie, got up and wandered over to where Littlefoot was, the young Apatosaurus was still wide awake, reflecting on all the recent events that have come to past. The young Hadrosaur came to rest next to him, which he didn't mind. Meanwhile, Ramirez, unable to sleep because of his helmet (he tolerated the snoring and screeching due to the loud noise he had always heard while sleeping at boot camp and back at Washington), sat up and took off his helmet, and promptly wrapped the chinstrap around his left arm. He then noticed Littlefoot and he remembered the old solder adage "Never leave a man behind". With this, he stood up, grabbed his carbine, and walked over to Littlefoot, and lied down next to him and Ducky. Then, Petrie came over and fell asleep next to the young Sauropod, and then a loud thud rang out as Spike jumped in and fell asleep on the other side of the Apatosaurus.

Now, it was Cera that was all by herself, and she began shivering as she didn't feel the warmth from the others and she woke up and received quite a shock when she realized they weren't there and then noticed that they were all with Littlefoot. She shivered, a miserable look, partly out of sadness and partly out of humiliation, grew on her face and she admitted defeat and walked over to the group and lied down and fell asleep.

Overall, the whole scene would have been completely heartwarming if it wasn't for Ramirez's never-ending drooling and random soft shouts of things like "Sarge, tango on the left!" "They're flanking us!" "You don't fuck with a Ranger!" "You don't mess with an American!" "Welcome to America, may I blow your brains out?" "Die, you Russian scumbags!" and things of that nature.

Nevertheless, the group was fast asleep, all in the comfort of each other, signifying their friendship to the end.


	19. Good Morning?

**Chapter 19: Good Morning? **

Early the next morning, the group was still was asleep, the massive Therapod footprint was know being flooded with Ramirez's drool, though the Dinosaurs didn't realize it. It was then that a loud roar rang out, causing Cera to wake up and then realize that she was immersed in a large pool of drool from the Human, causing her to gag and mutter quietly "Gross!" she then happened to look behind her and noticed a giant Tyrannosaurus approaching them.

There was no mistake, it had to be Him: Sharptooth, the very beast that killed Littlefoot's mother and then chased poor Cera out of that chasm in which he fell.

She tried to alert her friends to the carnivore approaching them, though Littlefoot told her to stop it, at which point she panickly shouted "He'll eat us! He'll eat us! Run!"

This woke up the others and caused them to run away, Ramirez grabbed his M4 and jumped out of the footprint, carrying his carbine, helmet, and M9 pistol. Littlefoot was the only one left and he continued to state that the Sharptooth was dead in the chasm he fell in, until that is, when he looked up to see a huge three-toed foot coming down on top of him. He instinctly jumped out of the way and it was a few seconds later when the foot came into contact with the ground, smashing to pieces the large leaf that young Littlefoot received from his mother, or at least her spirit, in a way inspiring the young Longneck to begin the long and dangerous journey to the Great Valley.

After smashing Littlefoot's leaf, the Tyrannosaurus gave chase, pursuing the helpless youngsters and their Human colleague. Ramirez fired first with his M4, emptying an entire magazine, and then switching to his pistol, and emptied several magazines at the monster pursuing them. As they neared a large rock wall, they tried to get through a little hole, though they were suddenly knocked clear through it by the giant head of the Sharptooth, winding up on the other side of the rock formation. After recovering from the shock of being thrown through a rock formation, Cera looked back and saw that Sharptooth's head was stuck in the hole, struggling to get out.

She turned to the Apatosaurus and snapped "See?"

"All right, I was wrong! But at least we're safe now."

"Nobody's safe with you!" the female snottily replied

Ramirez began "Now, that's a little harsh don't ya thi-"

However, he was interrupted by the young Longneck elatedly exclaiming "It's the rock that looks like a Longneck, just like my mother said! We're going the right way, the way to the Great Valley!"

The others looked in amazement as a huge rock formation in the shape of a Sauropod loomed over them. To Ramirez, it looked like something out of Zion National Park in Utah.

After encountering the peculiar formation, the group continued onwards, following the intrepid young Sauropod as he led them up a rocky cliff. It was a difficult climb and terribly exhausted the young Reptiles, but to Ramirez, he was used to it as he had gotten used to climbing during his Army Ranger training. Everyone, except Cera, was confident that the Great Valley was just beyond the cliff.

Finally, the gang reached the peak of the cliff, staring at a bowl-like valley below with spikes along the slope leading up to the cliff peak, instead of a huge valley that had spikes sticking out of the downwards slope leading towards a flat plain below.

Cera glared at the Longneck and snapped "This is your Great Valley? You're crazy!"

She then started walking away, proclaiming "I'M leaving!"

Littlefoot jumped in front of her and growled "But it's the wrong way!"

"Who says?" the female asks in a defiant way

"My mother!" the Longneck snarled

Then, the Threehorn snapped "Then _she_ was a stupid Longneck too!" causing Ramirez to gasp in horror at the sheer insult of Littlefoot's late mother.

The Apatosaurus was infuriated by this deep personal insult of the one individual he cared about the most. He snarled at the arrogant female "Take it back!"

"NO!" she snapped

"TAKE IT BACK!" the Longneck roared and he reared up on his hind legs, his front limbs high up in the air inches above Cera's face, almost as if he was about to slam down on her hard to crush her head with his weight. The Threehorn dodge the Sauropod as he slammed into the ground, but then the beserk male, who was consumed by rage, jumped onto her, causing the two to slide off and fall down the slope to the plain below.

The young Dinosaurs as well as Ramirez leaned over the edge of the cliff to view the two fighting it out down below. Unfortunately, they leaned too far and thus, slipped down the slope towards Littlefoot and Cera. Witnessing the brutal fight between the two, Ducky, Spike, and Petrie took cover behind a boulder near the struggling duo, while Ramirez went prone behind a large boulder further away.

The American looked up and couldn't help but remember the relationship between the older versions of both Littlefoot and Cera, and thus thought to himself "What the HELL did those two see in each other?"

In the midst of the fight, Cera threw off Littlefoot after being engaged in a head-to-head (literally) clash. After a short round of fighting, Cera gets thrown against the boulder the other Dinosaurs were hiding behinds. The Apatosaurus disengaged and started limping away, but Cera was not done yet. As Littlefoot began to walk away, Cera jumped up and ran towards the younger male and rammed him hard in the back, sending him spiraling into the ground.

Ramirez flinched, with how hard the female impacted him, he was surprised that Littlefoot wasn't killed or at least crippled for life.

Cera walked off in a huff, while Littlefoot got up and, through tears, snapped "Go on! Go the wrong way! We never wanted you here, anyway!"

Then, he headed for a nearby slope, saying "Come on! We have to keep going!"

He looked back at the others, who had come out of hiding and were staring back at him. Ducky told him "Cera's way IS easier!"

Panting from his difficult journey up the slope earlier, Petrie replied "I think so too!"

Glaring, Littlefoot continued towards the slope, and as he climbed up, Petrie tried to convince him to not depart, though the Sauropod did not respond. The Pterosaur then slipped and fell down the slope.

Ducky called out to the Triceratops "Cera! Wait for us! We're coming with you!" and she and Petrie chased after Spike and Cera, the Hadrosaur calling out "Cera, Spike, wait up!"

Ramirez, looking back at Cera and the others, walking away, and then at Littlefoot, who was still climbing up the slope. "Never leave a man behind" he muttered and he walked up to the slope and called out "Littlefoot! I'm coming with you!"

Looking back down at the Human, the Apatosaurus replied "Alright! Come on!" and he continued up the slope. Ramirez climbed up, with some difficulty, but eventually, he reached the top.

He looked down at Littlefoot and asked him "So, where we headed?"

Smiling wearily, Littlefoot told him "To the Great Valley, to fulfill my mother's dying wish." And he trekked ever onwards, with Ramirez trailing behind, heading towards the Great Valley and all that was in it.


End file.
